Is your child self-harming in ways you haven’t spotted?
Discovering that your child is self-harming is profoundly shocking and upsetting for every parent; but it’s quite likely that your child is self-harming in ways you haven't even noticed.
Self-harming is an epidemic that affects young people across the world*:
- 1-in-6 young people self-harm in the UK
- 1-in-5 teen girls self-harm in the USA
- 1-in-4 teen girls self-harm in the Australia
Types of self-harm
Most of the coverage of self-harm in the media focuses on cutting, referencing children with self-inflicted wounds on their arms. But the reality is, this is only one form of self-harm, and many other forms get overlooked.
The following list will help you identify other ways that your child may be self harming:
Most Common
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Less Common and often overlooked
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These often overlooked examples are ways that young people self-harm, affect their bodies and their health over longer periods of time.
Aggressive Behaviour
Another set of behaviours that can be neglected are aggressive tendencies such as:– Punching walls
– Getting into fights
– Breaking objects with their body
– Putting themselves in risky situations
Notice anything worrying about these less obvious aggressive types of self-injury?
These behaviours are often used to describe ‘boisterous’ teenage boys. As a parent, you might find yourself dismissing your sons’ careless behaviour as just ‘boys being boys’. Whilst self-harm amongst boys is often overlooked, it may be because this is their way of injuring themselves.
Have you noticed some of these commonly overlooked examples? You’re not alone. 70% of children/adolescents who repeatedly self-harm use multiple methods – anywhere between 2 – 4**.
Why do young people self-harm?
The reasons behind self-injury are complex and unique to each child, because each child/adolescent self-harms for different reasons. Keep in mind that you are not to blame and that your child is probably using it as a coping mechanism for overwhelming emotions and stress they’re experiencing.
Some of the most common reasons include:
- They are struggling to keep up with school work
- They may feel lonely
- They may be being bullied
- They may have an underlying mental health difficulties
- And many more everyday stressors
Identifying these behaviours and trying to understand a child’s experiences can be very difficult for some parents. The Youth Mental Health Foundation’s free course helps parents gain a perspective into their child’s circumstances and play an active role in their child’s recovery.
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We will be publishing an article on ‘Common myths about self-harm ‘’ in our blog very soon. This will give you a better understanding about many of the misconceptions about self-harm and how to understand your child’s self-harming in more detail – so watch this space.
P.S. Make sure you CHECK OUT the FREE resources we got available for parents of self-harming tweens and teens here:
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE BOOKLET and learn how a mother led her self-harming teenage child back to health & happiness: www.YouthMentalHealthFoundation.org/e-book
SIGN UP TO OUR FREE COURSE
Learn how YOU can support your self-harming child's healing: https://www.youthmentalhealthfoundation.org/onlinecourse
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Rachel
Research and Community Executive
