@article{ref1,
title="What helps people to reduce or stop self-harm? A systematic review and meta-synthesis of first-hand accounts",
journal="Journal of public health (Oxford)",
year="2022",
author="Brennan, Cathy A. and Crosby, Helen and Sass, Cara and Farley, Kate L. and Bryant, Louise D. and Rodriquez-Lopez, Rocio and Romeu, Daniel and Mitchell, Elizabeth and House, Allan O. and Guthrie, Else",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Self-harm is an important public health problem but therapeutic interventions, particularly for people who have a history of multiple repetition, are not always taken up or effective when they are. The aim of this review is to explore first-hand accounts of what helps outside therapy and identify actions and processes, which can support the reduction or cessation of self-harm. <br><br>METHODS: A systematic review and thematic meta-synthesis of the first-person accounts of what has helped to reduce or stop self-harm reported in primary studies. <br><br>RESULTS: The meta-synthesis combined 546 participant excerpts from 56 studies. Two over-arching themes were identified: (i) breaking the chain incorporated actions taken to break the link between a person's current psychological or social state and the act of self-harm and (ii) building a new foundation for change captured actions over the longer-term, focusing on practical changes in relationships and in a person's way of life, such as work or living arrangements. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize the importance of interpersonal change in reducing or stopping self-harm. While interpersonal factors are acknowledged as important reasons behind self-harm, they are often under-represented in self-management advice and therapeutic interventions that focus on individual psychopathology.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1741-3842",
doi="10.1093/pubmed/fdac022",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdac022"
}