Is your teen hurting themselves?

In this article, you’ll find answers to questions like:

1. What is self-harm?
2. How big a problem is self-harm in teens?
3. Why should you and your family be concerned?
4. Where can parents and caregivers go for help?

Why are teens harming themselves? Experts say social media, the pandemic, sexual violence and loneliness are among the top reasons.

“Young people are telling us that they are in crisis,” said Dr. Kathleen Ethier, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s adolescent and school health program.

WHAT IS SELF-HARM?

Self-harm—also known as self-injury, self-mutilation or self-abuse—happens when people hurt themselves on purpose without intending to kill themselves. Medical experts often refer to cutting and other forms of self-harm as non-suicidal self-injury, or NSSI.

Girls and female teens who self-harm are more likely to cut, while male youth are likelier to hit themselves. However, anyone can engage in self-harm, including children who identify as non-binary or transgender.

HOW BIG A PROBLEM IS SELF-HARM IN TEENS?

Teen girls report high rates of sadness, self-harm thoughts and sexual violence.

Nearly three in five teen girls felt persistent sadness in 2021, double the rate of boys, and one in three girls seriously considered attempting self-harm, according to a report by The New York Times.

High levels of violence, depression and self-harm among lesbian, gay and bisexual youth also are being reported. More than one in five of these students reported self-harm in the year before the survey, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

WHY SHOULD YOU AND YOUR FAMILY BE CONCERNED?

Parents and teens are struggling to overcome a generational disconnect with teenage self-harm, two local experts say.

Parents often do not want to accept that their child needs counseling. They think their child is going through a phase, or that they will soon “get over it,” said Katherine Murphy, chief executive officer of National Alliance on Mental Illness of Palm Beach County.

“Parents often see counseling as a stigma,” Murphy said.

Children having self-harm thoughts often do not want to burden their parents with their problems, said Allison Jimenez, director of programs for the Hanley Foundation in West Palm Beach.

“Children are under so much pressure to achieve, achieve, achieve. Not just at school but with their peers. Too often, they keep these problems inside.”

WHERE CAN PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS GO FOR HELP?

Self-harm is preventable. Counseling is a positive first step.

“The feeling of having someone to just listen has so much power. With social media and cell phones, teenagers have no way to just take a deep breath and disconnect. They need downtime with someone they can talk to,” Jimenez said.

The Hanley Foundation offers free online and in-person sessions for parents, teachers, teenagers and caregivers on self-harm prevention. There is also a support group for people concerned about self-harm of family members.

The Center for Child Counseling in Palm Beach Gardens offers a SNAP (Stop Now and Plan) Program to help parents. The center also offers individual and family counseling.

Palm Beach County’s chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness has support groups for young adults and families.

In an emergency, call 211 for self-harm prevention or crisis intervention.

For free help with self-harm text CONNECT to 741741.

 SOURCES:

• Katherine Murphy, chief executive officer National Alliance for Mental Illness of Palm Beach County Alliance for Mental Illness of Palm Beach County
• Allison Jimenez, director of programs for the Hanley Foundation

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Palm Beach County Youth Services Department
• Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine
• The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children