Self Harmers

[Merika]

Self-harmers to be given clean blades
Sarah-Kate Templeton, Medical Correspondent

NURSES want patients who are intent on harming themselves to be provided with clean blades so that they can cut themselves more safely.
They say people determined to harm themselves should be helped to minimise the risk of infection from dirty blades, in the same way as drug addicts are issued with clean needles.

This could include giving the “self-harm” patients sterile blades and clean packets of bandages or ensuring that they keep their own blades clean. Nurses would also give patients advice about which parts of the body it is safer to cut.

The proposal for “safe” self-harm — which is to be debated at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in April — is likely to provoke controversy.

At present nurses are expected to stop anyone doing physical harm to themselves and to confiscate any sharp objects ranging from razor blades to broken glass and tin cans.

However, Ian Hulatt, mental health adviser for the RCN, said: “There is a clear comparison with giving clean needles to reduce HIV. We will be debating introducing a similar harm-reduction approach. This may well include the provision of clean dressing packs and it may mean providing clean ‘sharps’.

“Nurses who encounter individuals who self-harm on a regular basis face a dilemma. Do they go for prohibition? Or do we allow this to occur in a way that minimises harm?”

Hulatt admitted there would be significant opposition: “Some nurses will not support this because our code of practice says we should not do patients any harm. But this may be less harmful than patients using dirty implements. There are mental health units that already allow the use of sterile implements.”

He was supported by Jeremy Bore, vice-chairman of the RCN’s prison forum, who said: “We should give patients clean blades and a clean environment to self-harm and then access to good-quality dressings.

“My instinct is that it is better to sit with the patient and talk to them while they are self-harming. We should definitely give advice on safer parts of the body to cut. It could get to the stage where we could have a discussion with the patient about how deep the cuts were going to be and how many.”

Every year 170,000 people attend hospital accident-and-emergency departments after deliberately harming themselves. A proportion of these do so on a regular basis, sometimes over decades. Many do so to release stress or cope with traumatic events or depression.

Maria Church, mother of Charlotte Church, the Welsh singer, recently revealed she has been self-harming for 17 years. When Maria Church is depressed she cuts her arms and stomach with kitchen knives and razors. She says the harm releases her unbearable tension. Dame Kelly Holmes said she went through two months of self-harming a year before her double gold win in the 2004 Olympics. She cut herself after injuries threatened to ruin her career.

Rest of Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...025748,00.html
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I've never known anyone who did this.... I found it very disturbing.

[Duke]

Good Lord, just kick them out on the streets if they want to harm themselves. Why take up a hospital bed or a professionals time, others who want help could use it.

Society is flushing itself straight down the toilet.

[Vautrin]

It is a serious issue though. For some the medical treatment in itself is the reward, or at least appears to be. For others it is simply a sign of severe depression. My youngest brother did self-harm himself at times.

Don't expect people who do such things, to act rationally. I would more suggest that they receive more intense psycho-therapy, in order to combat the mental causes for self-harm, than anything else.

[Merika]

I knew some younger people did it, like Johnny Depp, but I thought it was just some new fad....I had no idea it was actually a phsycological problem. I'm with Duke in that it's hard for me to see the connection as to how this would really help someone deal with depression.

[Vautrin]

It does not. It only serves to prevent infections. Same with handing out clean needles to addicted coke users. The idea, is not that it helps them get rid of the addiction, but at least they will not kill themselves with the infections.

[Merika]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

It does not. It only serves to prevent infections. Same with handing out clean needles to addicted coke users. The idea, is not that it helps them get rid of the addiction, but at least they will not kill themselves with the infections.

I understood THAT part and think it's a good thing. I just didn't understand how someone would get relief from depression by cutting themselves.

[Vautrin]

The experience of pain, can be a relief, as confused as it sounds.

It is something to deal with the numbness in life - of course it is not effective, but what is? That is what the depressed person has little clue about, and / or lacks the strength for.
It may also be (and you cannot say that it is just one reason) to draw attention to you, but often those people hide their self-inflicted wounds. The mind works in weird way, when you are not functioning normally, so we do not need to expect those behaviors to make sense from the outside point of view, but from the view of the person who self-harms himself. And then the laws of psychological logic become a bit twisted.

Something similar may be happening with masochists, who revel being in pain, and suffering.

[Merika]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Something similar may be happening with masochists, who revel being in pain, and suffering.

You mean like the new fad of people stapling themselves shut after cutting themselves open? I saw some pics of that....and how SAD??? You think perhaps young people today are really just depressed instead of following a fad? Maybe they feel emtpy or something? I can't imagine a person in their right mind mutilating their own body.

[Vautrin]

And what about tattoos? Piercings? Are these mutilations, or are the a form of self-expression?

[Merika]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

And what about tattoos? Piercings? Are these mutilations, or are the a form of self-expression?

I think some of it is a from of artistic expression... much like the wearing of jewelry or a person's style. But some of it out there ....just goes over the top. However, I've often wondered what set off the great trend to want to inflict ANY sort of pain on yourself?

I wouldn't get a tongue piercing....because it HURTS. I wouldn't care how snazzy it may look afterwards. Then again, I'm older and see no real advantage of having a glow in the dark dice in my mouth.

[Meanon]

Self harm is very common. It's usually a sign of illness, not a fad or a plea for attention. Usually it's concealed. It's a coping mechanism for dealing with great inner pain and turmoil, like getting blind drunk. The act of cutting releases the distress somehow. Of course in the long term it's harmful, but people do it as in the short term it helps.

[Merika]

I just find that to be so ODD.

[Meanon]

I've been finding out how this works. It has something to do with distraction. When people can't switch off unbearably painful memories/thought processes, the act of cutting enables them to do so. It forces the brain to snap out of the distressing pattern, temporarily. Bulimia works the same way. There's a parallel with suicide prevention, people on the brink sometimes find that they need a physical focus to their attention to distract them from the thoughts driving them to act, holding ice cubes is often advised, for example, along with other strategies.

[Adonaicole]

Originally Posted by Meanon

It's a coping mechanism for dealing with great inner pain and turmoil, like getting blind drunk.

Oh, now I understand the concept...lol...thank you for making clear to me Meanon.