“I can’t describe it and they can’t see the rain.” an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experience of self-harm in young adults who report difficulties identifying and describing their feelings
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21624372 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hilary Norman (0000-0002-0740-9592, Middlesex University, corresponding author), Lisa Marzano (0000-0001-9735-3512, Middlesex University), Andrea Oskis (Middlesex University), Mark Coulson (0000-0002-6760-8542, University of East Anglia) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 10151-10162 |
| Publication date | 2023-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Current Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1046-1310 • E-ISSN: 1936-4733 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12144-021-02273-7 |
| OpenAlex | W3198429780 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 46 |
Self-harm is a serious and increasing public health concern. Self-harm is significantly associated with alexithymia, a trait characterised by a difficulty identifying and describing feelings. Alexithymia has been found to be a barrier to psychological treatment. This article explores the experiences of self-harm among eight young adults who reported difficulties identifying and describing their feelings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the optional use of photographs as visual stimuli for discussion. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Two themes are presented here: The Obscure Self describes participants’ struggle to grasp a coherent sense of self, and how self-harm provided a means of physically reconnecting with their bodies. Words Fail Me describes participants’ difficulties communicating their subjective experience, which increased feelings of isolation and recourse to self-harm. There were also tentative indications that participants were able to recognise their emotional experience when expressed by others. The lack of interpersonal connection, arising from difficulties understanding feelings and communicating them to others, may create or exacerbate the context for self-harm. The findings have relevance for the treatment of self-harm, given the high, but often unacknowledged, prevalence of alexithymia in clinical populations
Alexithymia · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Harm · Interpersonal communication · Interpretative phenomenological analysis · Qualitative research · Self · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
Predictors of prospective suicide attempts in a group at risk of personality disorder following self-poisoning
A Safe Place Where I Am Welcome to Unwind When I Choose to’—Experiences of Brief Admission by Self-Referral for Adolescents Who Self-Harm at Risk for Suicide
My Heart and My Brain Is What's Bleeding, These Are Just Cuts.” An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Young Women's Experiences of Self-Harm
Alexithymia, negative moods, and fears of positive emotions
“Like stepping on glass”
Why can't you just be fine
Disorders of Affect Regulation
A critical review of visual analogue scales in the measurement of clinical phenomena
Putting Feelings Into Words
Solving the puzzle of deliberate self-harm
A meta-analysis of the prevalence of different functions of non-suicidal self-injury
Prevalence of non-suicidal self-harm and service contact in England, 2000–14
A Functional Approach to the Assessment of Self-Mutilative Behavior.
Why Do People Hurt Themselves?
The functions of deliberate self-injury
The natural history of self-harm from adolescence to young adulthood
The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia scale—I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure
Visual anthropology
The relationship between self‐harm and alexithymia
Words Don't Come Easy
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Hospital-Treated Self-Harm
Alexithymia and Locus of Control among Psychiatric Outpatients
Interpersonal emotion regulation
Alexithymia, Emotional Dysregulation, and Recovery From Alcoholism
From Feeling Too Little and Too Much, to Feeling More and Less? A Nonparadoxical Theory of the Functions of Self-Harm
In two minds' - socially motivated self-harm is perceived as less serious than internally motivated
Investigating the "Self" in Deliberate Self-Harm
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's self-harm in the context of interpersonal stressors and supports
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |