Social posts counsel Redditors view self-injury as an issue however discover the conduct addictive
A new research from the College of Georgia suggests folks posting in Reddit’s r/selfharm group are probably searching for help for destructive feelings.
Whereas sharing traumatic occasions on-line will be cathartic, the researchers warning that subreddits can’t present the identical kind of psychological well being assist and help face-to-face interactions {and professional} assist can.
Amanda Giordano
“We don’t know the accuracy of the knowledge that’s being shared in these communities about nonsuicidal self-injury,” stated Amanda Giordano, lead writer of the research and an affiliate professor in UGA’s Mary Frances Early School of Training. “A consumer participating in self-harm might really feel as if they’ve the help they want of their on-line group and, in flip, might not search offline assist.
“Nonetheless, there’s proof to counsel that speaking to nameless strangers on-line is much less efficient than searching for help from a trusted particular person offline.”
Redditors share destructive experiences, ask self-harm and medical questions
The researchers analyzed a pattern of 400 Reddit posts in a subreddit devoted to the subject of self-harm. On the time, the Reddit discussion board contained 143,000 members and supplied a window into the general tone and perspective posters have towards self-injury.
The research discovered that the commonest goal for posting within the self-harm subreddit was to share a destructive expertise (35.5%), like a misunderstanding with a member of the family. About one in 5 posts sought solutions to self-harm-related questions like the way to conceal scars. And 14% of posts included medical questions like the way to clear and handle wounds.
Extra customers framed self-harm as an issue reasonably than an answer. However the variety of posts expressing an intention to cease participating in self-harm was practically equal to these expressing no intention to cease.
[Posters] have been participating in self-harm as a technique to cease dangerous emotions and really feel higher.” —Amanda Giordano, School of Training
“The vast majority of posts didn’t describe why the poster engaged in self-injury, however of those that did, the commonest cause was for emotion regulation. They have been participating in self-harm as a technique to cease dangerous emotions and really feel higher,” stated Giordano.
These posts described participating in self-harm as a response to misery from particular life occasions, together with breaking apart or falling out with relations, or as a response to sturdy destructive feelings, corresponding to melancholy, self-hatred, loneliness, low shallowness, disgrace or nervousness.
The pattern of posts within the subreddit revealed that the commonest methodology of self-injury was slicing, with solely 10% of posts referencing strategies aside from slicing, corresponding to burning, scratching, head banging, punching and extra.
Customers might view self-injury as an addictive conduct
The research additionally discovered that addiction-related language, like “relapse” and “clear,” appeared in additional than 1 / 4 of the posts, indicating {that a} substantial variety of customers view self-harm as an dependancy.
Greater than 42% of the posts from the research indicated that the poster was at present participating in self-harm. The research discovered about one in 5 posts revealed the poster was not injuring themselves.
About 12 posts indicated the poster had by no means self-harmed however was interested in it, whereas 1% revealed it was the poster’s first time.
The researchers discovered a big correlation between whether or not the poster considered self-harm as an issue or an answer and that poster’s intention to cease the conduct.
Counselors and psychological well being professionals may also help purchasers shift their perspective from fascinated with self-harm as the answer to managing psychological ache to recognizing that self-injury doesn’t remedy the difficulty inflicting their emotional misery and as a substitute provides extra threat.
“Then the work can be round growing their motivation to vary and to search out different, extra adaptive methods of regulating their feelings exterior of self-harm,” Giordano stated.
Revealed by the Worldwide Journal for the Development of Counselling, the research was co-authored by UGA’s J’haria Dallas, Lauren Hearn and In Kee Kim. Extra co-authors embody Bradley McKibben and Donatella Luciani-Hill.
