scholarly journals Using the internet as a source of self-help for people who self-harm

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 222-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibhore Prasad ◽  
David Owens

Aims and MethodTo describe the information and help available on the internet for people who self-harm. We searched the internet using a meta-search engine. We visited sites and followed up links with e-mails and letters. We also searched bibliographic databases, seeking published material about the internet and self-harm.ResultsThe support that we found largely took the form of information about suicide, self-injury and psychological issues. Less often, sites offered e-mail support and online discussions. We found little information about self-poisoning, and most about self-injury. There is little published research about self-harm and the internet.Clinical ImplicationsThe unregulated sites of the internet contain much material about self-injury. Although it is not possible at present to weigh up risks and benefits, many individuals and organisations plainly regard internet information about self-harm as a valuable service.

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicky Pengelly ◽  
Barry Ford ◽  
Paul Blenkiron ◽  
Steve Reilly

Repeated self-harm without suicidal intent occurs in approximately 2% of adults (Meltzer et al, 2002). Service users report that professionals can respond to self-harm with unhelpful attitudes and ineffective care. Although evidence for effective treatments is poor (Hawton et al, 1999), this therapeutic pessimism is not found in the self-help approaches promoted by voluntary organisations such as Mind: ‘If you feel the need to self-harm, focus on staying within safe limits' (Harrison & Sharman, 2005). User websites frequently offer advice on harm minimisation: ‘Support the person in beginning to take steps to keep herself safe and to reduce her self-injury – if she wishes to. Examples of very valuable steps might be: taking fewer risks (e.g. washing implements used to cut, avoiding drinking if she thinks she is likely to self-injure)’ (Bristol Crisis Service for Women, 1997).


2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Richardson ◽  
Kendra Surmitis ◽  
Rebecca Hyldahl

Social contagion among adolescents is a growing concern as the numbers of youth who self-injure increases. Mental health counselors face challenges in treating self-injurers in settings that are prone to social contagion. This article describes social contagion as one factor motivating self-harm in group settings, residential facilities, and audiences for social and electronic media. It reviews possible benefits and pitfalls of self-injury treatment in these environments and presents approaches to minimize social contagion. Responses to self-injury and social contagion are explored.


Author(s):  
Nestor J. Zaluzec

The Information SuperHighway, Email, The Internet, FTP, BBS, Modems, : all buzz words which are becoming more and more routine in our daily life. Confusing terminology? Hopefully it won't be in a few minutes, all you need is to have a handle on a few basic concepts and terms and you will be on-line with the rest of the "telecommunication experts". These terms all refer to some type or aspect of tools associated with a range of computer-based communication software and hardware. They are in fact far less complex than the instruments we use on a day to day basis as microscopist's and microanalyst's. The key is for each of us to know what each is and how to make use of the wealth of information which they can make available to us for the asking. Basically all of these items relate to mechanisms and protocols by which we as scientists can easily exchange information rapidly and efficiently to colleagues in the office down the hall, or half-way around the world using computers and various communications media. The purpose of this tutorial/paper is to outline and demonstrate the basic ideas of some of the major information systems available to all of us today. For the sake of simplicity we will break this presentation down into two distinct (but as we shall see later connected) areas: telecommunications over conventional phone lines, and telecommunications by computer networks. Live tutorial/demonstrations of both procedures will be presented in the Computer Workshop/Software Exchange during the course of the meeting.


Crisis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod Singaravelu ◽  
Anne Stewart ◽  
Joanna Adams ◽  
Sue Simkin ◽  
Keith Hawton

Abstract. Background: The Internet is used by young people at risk of self-harm to communicate, find information, and obtain support. Aims: We aimed to identify and analyze websites potentially accessed by these young people. Method: Six search terms, relating to self-harm/suicide and depression, were input into four search engines. Websites were analyzed for access, content/purpose, and tone. Results: In all, 314 websites were included in the analysis. Most could be accessed without restriction. Sites accessed by self-harm/suicide search terms were mostly positive or preventive in tone, whereas sites accessed by the term ways to kill yourself tended to have a negative tone. Information about self-harm methods was common with specific advice on how to self-harm in 15.8% of sites, encouragement of self-harm in 7.0%, and evocative images of self-harm/suicide in 20.7%. Advice on how to get help was given in 56.1% of sites. Conclusion: Websites relating to suicide or self-harm are easily accessed. Many sites are potentially helpful. However, a significant proportion of sites are potentially harmful through normalizing or encouraging self-harm. Enquiry regarding Internet use should be routinely included while assessing young people at risk.


Author(s):  
Elly Mufida ◽  
David Wardana Agus Rahayu

The VoIP communication system at OMNI Hospital Alam Sutera uses the Elastix 2.5 server with the Centos 5.11 operating system. Elastix 2.5 by the developer has been declared End of Life. The server security system is a serious concern considering that VoIP servers can be accessed from the internet. Iptables and fail2ban applications are applications that are used to limit and counteract those who try to attack the VoIP server. One application that can be used as an open source VoIP server is the Issabel Application version 4.0. The migration process from Elastix 2.5 application to Issabel 4.0 by backing up all configurations in the Elastix 2.5 application through a web browser including the configuration of endpoints, fax, e-mail, asterisk. After the backup file is downloaded then upload the backup file to the Issabel 4.0 application then run the migration process. Adding a backup path as a failover connection is needed because the VoIP communication protocol between the OMNI Hospitals Group still uses one path so that when there is a problem in the connection path, the communication protocol will stop. The tunnel EoIP is a protocol used as a backup path between the OMNI Hospitals Group site.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Skylan Chester ◽  
Tchiki Davis ◽  
C. Nathan DeWall

We introduce a new measure of sub-clinical self-harm tendencies, the Voodoo Doll Self-Injury Task (VDSIT). In this computer task, participants virtually stick a number of sharp pins in a doll that represents themselves. Across five community and undergraduate samples who were not recruited based on their self-harm history or risk (total N = 1,289), VDSIT scores were higher among participants with histories of actual self-injury and were positively correlated with state and trait level motivations to self-harm. VDSIT scores did not correspond to tendencies to harm others, showed sensitivity to experimental manipulations that increase self-harm tendencies, and were positively correlated with established risk factors for self-harm (e.g., depression). The VDSIT did not, on average, elicit significant distress from participants during or after the task, even among participants who had previously engaged in self-harm. Whereas the clinical utility of this measure remains unexamined, these findings provide initial support for the VDSIT’s sub-clinical validity, which can help researchers accurately, economically, and rapidly measure state and trait level self-harm tendencies using both correlational and experimental designs.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e041609
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie ◽  
Farag Shuweihdi ◽  
Mitch Waterman ◽  
Allan House

ObjectivesTo identify the prevalence, methods, associations and reported reasons for self-harm among in-school and street-connected adolescents in Ghana.DesignA cross-sectional survey. We applied multi-level regression models and model-based cluster analysis to the data.SettingThree contexts in the Greater Accra region were used: second cycle schools, facilities of charity organisations and street census enumeration areas (sleeping places of street-connected adolescents, street corners, quiet spots of restaurants, markets, train and bus stations, and lorry and car parks).ParticipantsA regionally representative sample of 2107 (1723 in-school and 384 street-connected) adolescents aged 13–21 years.Outcome measuresParticipants responded to a structured self-report anonymous questionnaire describing their experience of self-harm and eliciting demographic information and social and personal adversities.ResultsThe lifetime prevalence of self-harm was 20.2% (95% CI 19.0% to 22.0%), 12-month prevalence was 16.6% (95% CI 15.0% to 18.0%) and 1-month prevalence was 3.1% (95% CI 2.0% to 4.0%). Self-injury alone accounted for 54.5% episodes and self-poisoning alone for 16.2% episodes, with more than one method used in 26% of episodes. Self-cutting (38.7%) was the most common form of self-injury, whereas alcohol (39.2%) and medications (27.7%) were the most commonly reported means of self-poisoning. The factors associated with self-harm were interpersonal: conflict with parents (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.87, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.81), physical abuse victimisation (aOR=1.69, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.47), difficulty in making and keeping friends (aOR=1.24, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.80), sexual abuse victimisation (aOR=1.21, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.87) and conflict between parents (aOR=1.07, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.56).ConclusionsSelf-harm is a significant public health problem among in-school and street-connected adolescents in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Its origins are very largely in social and familial adversity, and therefore prevention and treatment measures need to be focused in these areas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009385482199841
Author(s):  
Melinda Reinhardt ◽  
Zsolt Horváth ◽  
Boglárka Drubina ◽  
Gyöngyi Kökönyei ◽  
Kenneth G. Rice

Significantly higher rates of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) have been discovered among justice-involved juveniles. Our study aimed to discriminate homogeneous subgroups of justice-involved youth with different self-harm behavior characteristics based on latent class analysis. A total of 244 adolescents (92.6% boys; Mage = 16.99, SD = 1.28) in Hungarian juvenile detention centers completed measures of NSSI and dissociation. High-NSSI (Class 1; 9%), moderate-NSSI (Class 2; 42.6%), and low-NSSI (Class 3; 48.4%) profiles were detected relating to different forms of NSSI. Multiple comparisons showed that girls were members of Class 1 and 2 at higher rates and these subgroups showed significantly higher dissociation proportions than Class 3. Our findings pointed out diversity in self-harm profiles with different characteristics in terms of methods and severity of self-harm, experienced emotions, and other emotion regulation tendencies among justice-involved adolescents. These results suggest sophisticated treatment approaches to match variations in severity and presentation.


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