This book provides an appreciative, sociological engagement with accounts of the embodied practice of self-injury. It shows that in order to understand self-injury, it is necessary to engage with widely circulating narratives about the nature of bodies, including that they are separate from, yet containers of 'emotion'. Using a sociological approach, the book examines what self-injury is, how it functions, and why someone might engage in it. It pays close attention to the corporeal aspects of self-injury, attending to the complex ways in which 'lived experience' is narrated. By interrogating the way in which healthcare and psychiatric systems shape our understanding of self-injury, Self-Injury, Medicine and Society aims to re-invigorate traditional discourse on the subject. Combining analytical theory with real-life accounts, this book provides an engaging study which is both thought-provoking and informative. It will appeal to an interdisciplinary readership and scholars in the fields of medical sociology and health studies in particular.
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a baffling, troubling, and hard to treat phenomenon that has increased markedly in recent years. Key issues in diagnosing and treating NSSI adequately include differentiating it from attempted suicide and other mental disorders, as well as understanding the motivations for self-injury and the context in which it occurs. This accessible and practical book provides therapists and students with a clear understanding of these key issues, as well as of suitable assessment techniques. It then goes on to delineate research-informed treatment approaches for NSSI, with an emphasis on functional assessment, emotion regulation, and problem solving, including motivational interviewing, interpersonal skills, CBT, DBT, behavioral management strategies, delay behaviors, exercise, family therapy, risk management, and medication, as well as how to successfully combine methods.
This book is open access under a CC BY license and charts the rise and fall of various self-harming behaviours in twentieth-century Britain. It puts self-cutting and overdosing into historical perspective, linking them to the huge changes that occur in mental and physical healthcare, social work and wider politics.
Suicide is a perplexing human behavior that remains among the leading causes of death worldwide, responsible for more deaths each year than all wars, genocide, and homicide combined. Although suicide and other forms of self-injury have baffled scholars and clinicians for thousands of years, the past few decades have brought significant leaps in our understanding of these behaviors. This volume provides a comprehensive summary of the most important and exciting advances in our understanding of suicide and self-injury and our ability to predict and prevent it. Comprised of a formidable who's who in the field, the handbook covers the full spectrum of topics in suicide and self-injury across the lifespan, including the classification of different self-injurious behaviors, epidemiology, assessment techniques, and intervention. Chapters probe relevant issues in our society surrounding suicide, including assisted suicide and euthanasia, suicide terrorism, overlap between suicidal behavior and interpersonal violence, ethical considerations for suicide researchers, and current knowledge on survivors of suicide. The most comprehensive handbook on suicide and self-injury to date, this volume is a must-read text for graduate students, fellows, academic and research psychologists, and other researchers working in the brain and behavioral sciences.
Self-harm is increasingly prevalent in our society. But few of us understand why, or know what to do to help ourselves, friends or family in such situations. It can be very isolating. Understanding and Responding to Self-Harm aims to fill this gap, providing practical information and advice for anyone who has an experience of self-harm. Showing the various forms self-harm can take, this book explores the reasons behind it, and offers advice on self-management, support to others, and what services are available. Full of clear, thoughtful advice for those who may be thinking of harming themselves, or have already done so, as well as guidance for families and friends on helpful strategies and responses - and ones to avoid - it uses evidence from research and direct experience to provide an essential resource.
Research has shown that a range of adult psychiatric disorders and mental health problems originate at an early age, yet the psychiatric symptoms of an increasing number of children and adolescents are going unrecognized and untreated—there are simply not enough child psychiatric providers to meet this steadily rising demand. It is vital that advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and primary care practitioners take active roles in assessing behavioral health presentations and work collaboratively with families and other healthcare professionals to ensure that all children and adolescents receive appropriate treatment. Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health helps APRNs address the mental health needs of this vulnerable population, providing practical guidance on assessment guidelines, intervention and treatment strategies, indications for consultation, collaboration, referral, and more. Now in its second edition, this comprehensive and timely resource has been fully updated to include DSM-5 criteria and the latest guidance on assessing, diagnosing, and treating the most common behavioral health issues facing young people. New and expanded chapters cover topics including eating disorders, bullying and victimization, LGBTQ identity issues, and conducting research with high-risk children and adolescents. Edited and written by a team of accomplished child psychiatric and primary care practitioners, this authoritative volume: Provides state-of-the-art knowledge about specific psychiatric and behavioral health issues in multiple care settings Reviews the clinical manifestation and etiology of behavioral disorders, risk and management issues, and implications for practice, research, and education Offers approaches for interviewing children and adolescents, and strategies for integrating physical and psychiatric screening Discusses special topics such as legal and ethical issues, cultural influences, the needs of immigrant children, and child and adolescent mental health policy Features a new companion website containing clinical case studies to apply concepts from the chapters Designed to specifically address the issues faced by APRNs, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health is essential reading for nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, particularly those working in family, pediatric, community health, psychiatric, and mental health settings. *Second Place in the Child Health Category, 2021 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards*
"I highly recommend [A Bright Red Scream], because it’s beautifully written and . . . so candid.” —Amy Adams, star of HBO's Sharp Objects in Entertainment Weekly Self-mutilation is a behavior so shocking that it is almost never discussed. Yet estimates are that upwards of eight million Americans are chronic self-injurers. They are people who use knives, razor blades, or broken glass to cut themselves. Their numbers include the actor Johnny Depp, Girl Interrupted author Susanna Kaysen, and the late Princess Diana. Mistakenly viewed as suicide attempts or senseless masochism—even by many health professionals—"cutting" is actually a complex means of coping with emotional pain. Marilee Strong explores this hidden epidemic through case studies, startling new research from psychologists, trauma experts, and neuroscientists, and the heartbreaking insights of cutters themselves--who range from troubled teenagers to middle-age professionals to grandparents. Strong explains what factors lead to self-mutilation, why cutting helps people manage overwhelming fear and anxiety, and how cutters can heal both their internal and external wounds and break the self-destructive cycle. A Bright Red Scream is a groundbreaking, essential resource for victims of self-mutilation, their families, teachers, doctors, and therapists.
Offering a new way of understanding the high self-harm and suicide rates among sexual and gender minority youth, this book prioritises the perspectives and experiences of queer young people, including those who have experience of self-harming and/or feeling suicidal. Presenting analysis based on research carried out with young people both online and face-to-face, the authors offer a critical perspective on the role of norms, namely developmental norms, gender and sexuality norms, and neoliberal norms, in the production of self-harming and suicidal youth. Queer Youth, Suicide and Self-Harm is unique in the way it works at the intersection of class and sexuality, and in its specific focus on transgender youth and the concept of embodied distress. It also examines the implications of this research for self-harm reduction and suicide prevention.
Autism is an emerging area of basic and clinical research, and has only recently been recognized as a major topic in biomedical research. Approximately 1 in 150 children are diagnosed as autistic, so it is also an intense growth area in behavioral and educational treatments. Financial resources have begun to be raised for more comprehensive research and an increasing number of scientists are becoming involved in autism research. In many respects, autism has become a model for conducting translational research on a psychiatric disorder. This text provides a comprehensive summary of all current knowledge related to the behavioral, experiential, and biomedical features of the autism spectrum disorders including major behavioral and cognitive syndromology, common co-morbid conditions, neuropathology, neuroimmunology, and other neurological correlates such as seizures, allergy and immunology, gastroenterology, infectious disease, and epidemiology. Edited by three leading researchers, this volume contains over 80 chapters and nine shorter commentaries by thought leaders in the field, making the book a virtual "who's who" of autism research. This carefully developed book is a comprehensive and authoritative reference for what we know in this area as well as a guidepost for the next several years in all areas of autism research.
Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.
