@article{ref1,
title="Addiction to self-harm? The case of online postings on self-harm message boards",
journal="International journal of mental health and addiction",
year="2019",
author="Davis, Sarah and Lewis, Christopher Alan",
volume="17",
number="4",
pages="1020-1035",
abstract="Presently, there is limited research investigating the addictive nature of self-harm, even though non-suicidal self-injury disorder has been included in the DSM-V (American Psychiatric Association 2013) for over 5 years. The aim of the present study was to build on the existing literature by examining self-harm discussions on Internet message boards to examine if themes related to addiction are present. A sample of 500 online postings from four forums were analysed to examine whether self-harm has an addictive nature. Postings were extracted, read, and re-read before being coded using inductive content analysis to identify themes. Six themes were identified: &quot;Urge/Obsession&quot;, &quot;Relapse&quot;, &quot;Can't/Don't want to stop&quot;, &quot;Coping mechanism&quot;, &quot;Hiding/Shame&quot;, and &quot;Getting worse/Not enough&quot;. Postings revealed there can be cravings to engage in self-harm behaviour, not wanting or being able to stop, returning to the behaviour, self-harm being a coping mechanism, shame, and the behaviour becoming worse. This study has demonstrated that repetitive self-harming seems to have addictive aspects.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1557-1874",
doi="10.1007/s11469-018-9975-8",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9975-8"
}