‘We’re not monsters … we’re just really sad sometimes

’ Hidden Self-Injury, Stigma and Help-Seeking

Dados Bibliográficos

ID17752632
AutoresMaggie Long (0000-0001-8762-0285, School of Communication and Media, Institute for Research in Social Sciences, Ulster University, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, autor correspondente)
Ano2017
Volume27
Fascículo1
Páginas89-103
Data de publicação2017-09-13
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHealth Sociology Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1446-1242 • E-ISSN: 1839-3551
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14461242.2017.1375862
OpenAlexW2754646712
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas22
Referências citadas46

The aim of this article is to provide an insider perspective on experiences of stigmatisation for people who engage in hidden self-injury. The vast majority of self-injury is recognised to be hidden, whereby most people who self-injure do not present to formal health services. By drawing on the data from 20 face-to- face interviews, conducted in community settings, with counselling clients with a history of self-injury and counsellors experienced in working with self-injury, I sought to provide insights into hidden self-injury, stigma and help-seeking. Through a Grounded Theory analysis, three categories were identified: (1) stigma and rejection; (2) fear and the need to rescue; and, (3) secret shame and self-stigma. Each category inter-relates to form the core category, ‘stigma permeates the lives of people who self- injure.’ My research demonstrates that social stigma surrounding self-injury interacts with self-stigma and compounds existent feelings of shame, thus restricting help-seeking and recovery. There is a need for service-providers and policy-makers to become aware of the multifarious manifestations of stigma, which reinforce the devastating impact of self-injury on people’s lives

Feeling · Grounded theory · Help-seeking · Mental health · Psychiatry · Psychotherapist · Qualitative research · Self · Self-disclosure · Shame · Social stigma · Sociology · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies