Self-harm, along with mental health in general, remains a deeply stigmatized and misunderstood topic. Young people who struggle with the behavior report having difficulties talking about it and suicide thoughts as they do not feel listened to. Furthermore, they can also suffer from judgment when seeking treatment in hospitals where self-harm remains perceived negatively (Ashworth et al., 2022).

In order to combat the stigma that young people face about self-harm, Cumbria charity Every Life Matters developed self-harm safe kits to provide them with support and help them understand their self-injury. The kits were promoted on March 1 2023 for Self-Injury Awareness Day and are distributed to professionals in Lancashire, England, who may come across young people struggling with the behavior, such as in schools or at the General Practitioner.

Content of the kit

The kit provides information about self-harm, along with distraction resources and basic first aid material.

Information for teenagers

The information provided to young people explains self-harm is a coping mechanism and that there is a great diversity of reasons for self-harm. It reassures teenagers who cannot stop self-harming yet and argues recovery is not an easy and linear journey. It also highlights the importance of harm minimization and preventing infections.

“If you don’t feel you can stop right now, that’s OK, but try to ensure you keep yourself safe. Many people stop hurting themselves when the time is right for them. Everyone is different – try not to feel guilty – it is a way of getting through, and doing it now does NOT mean that you will have to do it forever to cope.”

Every Life Matters, What you need to know

The kit also supports teenagers in taking control of their self-harm. It encourages them to think about what triggers them and what distraction techniques work and do not work for them. It suggests techniques, along with recommendations to talk to parents, family members, school teacher or GP and lists phone numbers to call in case of emergency. Another leaflet where identified urges, triggers and distraction techniques can be written down is included in the kit.

The leaflets for teenagers who self-harm are very well made and easy to understand. They provide key elements to understand self-harm and get involved in the recovery process while also reducing the stigma and guilt they might feel. The only downfall is the suggestion to check at online forums about self-harm which could host unsafe and unhealthy content. The inclusion of elastic bands in the kit is also questionable as this technique has not been proven to be effective and can lead to the persistence of urges (Lewis & Hasking, 2021), however it seems they were added after a improvement suggestion made by a user who tested the kit (Ashworth et al., 2022).

Information for parents and carers

The information for parents and carers resume information given to teenagers and recommends adults not to panic when learning about their child’s self-harm but instead to be supportive and offer a listening ear. It helps identify signs that can indicate self-harm. While it gives advice to help, it also reassures the carers, reminds them they do not need to fix the situation and recommends getting professional help.

Discussion

Further research should be made to identify the best target for self-harm kits as well as guidelines for professionals to discuss the kit with the teenager. Some professionals for example do not see them as useful for teenagers with serious cases of self-harm. Professionals responding to crisis situations such as those working in ambulances or in A&E also report not having the time to discuss the kit with people who self-harm. “I think it just there’s that risk that we just pass the box over and think it’s part of an intervention” worries a professional working for an ambulance service (Ashworth et al., 2022). Therefore, they should be seen as an early intervention tool for professionals who may see them as useful to discuss the behavior with teenagers or parents. While they obviously do not solve the problem in the long term nor replace professional help, self-harm kits can be seen as a good way to make sure teenagers get sufficient and safe information in early intervention. They can also help open the discussion with parents, teenagers or GPs.

By informing the teenager about the nonlinear nature of recovery, encouraging them to develop self-acceptance, destigmatizing self-harm and empowering them into identifying urges and triggers or experimenting with different distraction techniques, the self-harm kit provided by Every Life Matters follows many elements from the Person-Centered Model of Self-Injury Recovery (Lewis & Hasking, 2021).

The kit is for now only available in Cumbria and we can only hope similar kits will become available on a national and international level to reach as many struggling teenagers as possible.

References

Ashworth, E., Molloy-Vickers, D., & Saini, P. (2022). A Pilot Evaluation of Self-Harm Kits in Cheshire & Merseyside: 2021-2022.

Every Life Matters. (2020). A guide for parents and carers [PDF]. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ELM0012-self-harm-wallet-card-full-mock.pdf

Every Life Matters. (2022). Distractions [PDF]. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Distractions-5.pdf

Every Life Matters. (2022). Local and National support [PDF]. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Self-harm-Signposting-Insert-3.pdf

Every Life Matters. (2020). Safety planning [PDF]. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ELM0012-self-harm-wallet-card-safe-plan-full-mock.pdf

Every Life Matters. (2020). What you need to know [PDF]. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk. https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ELM0012-self-harm-wallet-card-what-you-need-to-know-full-mock.pdf

Lewis, S. P., & Hasking, P. A. (2021). Self-injury recovery: A person-centered framework. In Journal of Clinical Psychology (Vol. 77, Issue 4, pp. 884–895). John Wiley and Sons Inc.