TPC-Journal-V6-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 1 63 Treatment of Self-Injury If self-injury is left untreated, increased severity and possible suicidality or suicide attempts may occur; therefore, it is important to recognize self-injury and treat the client appropriately and quickly in order to prevent complications. Knowledge with regard to possible presentation of self-injurious behavior as it pertains to intersections of gender, age and ethnicity also is important. Additionally, clinicians must recognize typical signs of self-injurious behaviors in relationship to diagnostic criteria. The likelihood of self-injurious behavior as a coping mechanism becomes more prevalent within certain psychological issues. The diagnoses most commonly associated with self-injury include major depression, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders (Klonsky & Muehienkamp, 2007; Marx & Sloan, 2002; Nehls, 1998; Sansone & Levitt, 2002; Sargent, 2003). Self-injury has been found to be associated with acute stress related to relational aggression, abuse and dating violence (Hays, Craigen, Knight, Healey, & Sikes, 2009; Turnage, Jacinto, & Kirven, 2003). Since self-injury also can be co-morbid with suicidality, selected psychological and emotional states will be reviewed separately in terms of their individual indicators related to self-injury, and their effects on the severity of possible danger or harm to provide a framework for the importance of data related to populations not typically studied in association with self-injurious behaviors. Self-injury has commonly been associated with the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), although this association may relate more to ongoing trauma issues (Alderman, 1997; Naomi, 2002). Given the continued prevalence of the diagnosis in relation to self-injury, attention to self- injury with BPD is warranted. Those who are diagnosed with BPD, or display borderline features, and are engaging in self-injury typically display other self-destructive behaviors and decision making (Gratz, 2006; Sansone, Wiederman & Sansone, 1998), tend to have unresolved anger that is noticeable in everyday relations, and also may exhibit a need to distract themselves from their emotions (M. Brown, Comtois, & Linehan, 2002). These characteristics will be prominent over other clinical symptoms associated with BPD. BPD also is more commonly diagnosed among females, as is self- injurious behavior (Lundh et al., 2007). If indeed self-injurious behaviors are associated with a history of trauma, perhaps the presentation of self-injurious behaviors are overlooked when working with male clients due to the association of self-injury with BPD. Gender and Self-Injury Potential gender differences in the presentation of self-injury may exist for various reasons. Past studies focusing on particular forms of self-injury have focused on potentially unrepresentative female-only samples, thus misrepresenting the existence of a more diverse population of those engaged in self-injurious behaviors (Marchetto, 2006). Some research proposes that males are just as likely as females to self-injure and perhaps go about it differently or are more secretive (Gratz, 2001). Marchetto’s study of 516 individuals engaged in skin-cutting as a form of self-injury found “no evidence for an overrepresentation of women” (p. 453). Other research supports this notion that there may not be a gender difference among certain types of self-injurious behavior (Izutsu et al., 2006; Muehlenkamp & Gutierrez, 2007). In addition, a recent study found no gender differences in prevalence of self-injury among college students, but noted that far fewer men were willing to complete the study (Heath, Toste, Nedecheva, & Charlebois, 2008). Furthermore, these authors warned against inaccurately interpreting the above issues as meaning a lower prevalence of self- injury exists among males. Seemingly, female adolescents are more likely to self-report instances of self-injury than male adolescents (Heath, Schaub, Holly, & Nixon, 2008), and male self-injurers are not diagnosed and conceptualized the same as females that self-injure (Healey, Trepal, & Emelianchik-Key, 2010). With these two compounding factors, males that self-injure are at a disadvantage to receive help with their self-injurious behaviors.