Education professionals can make a difference to the outcome for the students involved. There are sections covering what to do if a student seeks help, is going overseas imminently, or what you should do if you suspect a student may be forced to marry. Warning signs can include a sudden drop in performance, truancy from lessons and conflicts with parents over the continuation of the student’s education. There may be excessive parental restrictions and control, a history of domestic abuse within the family, or extended absence through sickness or overseas commitments. Students may show signs of depressive behaviour or self-harming, and there may be a history of older siblings leaving education early to marry young. Some advice is given on ways to aid debate within the curriculum. Suggestions include relevant book and video titles and where to access them.
Education professionals can make a difference to the outcome for the students involved. There are sections covering what to do if a student seeks help, is going overseas imminently, or what you should do if you suspect a student may be forced to marry. Warning signs can include a sudden drop in performance, truancy from lessons and conflicts with parents over the continuation of the student’s education. There may be excessive parental restrictions and control, a history of domestic abuse within the family, or extended absence through sickness or overseas commitments. Students may show signs of depressive behaviour or self-harming, and there may be a history of older siblings leaving education early to marry young. Some advice is given on ways to aid debate within the curriculum. Suggestions include relevant book and video titles and where to access them.
As part of the National Inquiry into Self-Harm Among Young People, the Camelot Foundation and Mental Health Foundation commissioned the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health (SDC) and the Research Unit in Health, Behaviour and Change (RUHBC) to undertake a review of literature on self-cutting. The remit for the review was to identify and review UK published and ‘grey’ literature focusing
As part of the National Inquiry into Self-Harm Among Young People, the Camelot Foundation and Mental Health Foundation commissioned the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health (SDC) and the Research Unit in Health, Behaviour and Change (RUHBC) to undertake a review of literature on self-cutting. The remit for the review was to identify and review UK published and ‘grey’ literature focusing on self-cutting among young people. To ensure as comprehensive a review as practicable the remit was extended to include international (English language) material relating to self-cutting, or which included self-cutting as one form of self-mutilative behaviour; and studies that included, but extended beyond, young people aged 11 to 25 years. The three core aims of the review were to inform an understanding of: patterns of prevalence and incidence of self-cutting among young people; the risk and protective factors associated with self-cutting; and preventative and therapeutic interventions.
British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(3), September 2005, pp.120-127.
Publisher:
Wiley
Deliberate self-harm represents a significant, yet it can be argued, a poorly theorized area of concern with respect to women who have learning disabilities particularly in the context of secure service provision. Utilizing ideas from social constructionism the authors explore how some ways of understanding dominate the professional literature and, thereby, restrict how such women can be understood. In order to identify how women with learning disabilities who self-harm are understood a Q-methodological study was conducted with patients and professionals in a medium secure unit. Six distinct accounts of why women self-harm emerged. These accounts emphasized that self-harming behaviour is meaningful and that women with learning disabilities are understood to have complex needs and a range
Deliberate self-harm represents a significant, yet it can be argued, a poorly theorized area of concern with respect to women who have learning disabilities particularly in the context of secure service provision. Utilizing ideas from social constructionism the authors explore how some ways of understanding dominate the professional literature and, thereby, restrict how such women can be understood. In order to identify how women with learning disabilities who self-harm are understood a Q-methodological study was conducted with patients and professionals in a medium secure unit. Six distinct accounts of why women self-harm emerged. These accounts emphasized that self-harming behaviour is meaningful and that women with learning disabilities are understood to have complex needs and a range of strategies for coping with these. The study, therefore, suggests that when working with such women consideration should be given to how they understand and manage their experiences, cognitions and emotions.
Subject terms:
learning disabilities, medium secure units, self-harm, women;
The author describes his experience as a carer representative invited to work with NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) on the production of its recommendations for the treatment of self-harm. Discusses the process of producing the guidelines: the questions asked, the hiearchy of evidence used, and the eventual resignation of the two service users on the group due an emphasis
The author describes his experience as a carer representative invited to work with NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) on the production of its recommendations for the treatment of self-harm. Discusses the process of producing the guidelines: the questions asked, the hiearchy of evidence used, and the eventual resignation of the two service users on the group due an emphasis on the use of academic research evidence and randomised controlled trials. Outlines the wider review of the service user and voluntary sector literature that followed and the inclusion of findings from focus groups as an appendix to the Guidance.
British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(3), March 2005, pp.253-257.
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Prediction of suicide risk is difficult in clinical practice. To identify changes in clinical presentation predictive of suicide in patients treated for repeated episodes of self-poisoning, a nested case–control study used the Hunter Area Toxicology Service database to identify exposure variables and the National Death Index to identify suicide. Cases were patients who had hospital treatment on more than one occasion between 15 January 1987 and 31 December 2000. There were 31 cases, for which 93 controls were selected. Study variables associated with an increased risk of subsequent suicide were an increase in the number of drugs ingested, in the dose ingested or in coma score, a decrease in Glasgow Coma Score, and an increase in drug or alcohol misuse. Concludes patients who have escalating severity of self-poisoning episodes are at high risk of completed suicide.
Prediction of suicide risk is difficult in clinical practice. To identify changes in clinical presentation predictive of suicide in patients treated for repeated episodes of self-poisoning, a nested case–control study used the Hunter Area Toxicology Service database to identify exposure variables and the National Death Index to identify suicide. Cases were patients who had hospital treatment on more than one occasion between 15 January 1987 and 31 December 2000. There were 31 cases, for which 93 controls were selected. Study variables associated with an increased risk of subsequent suicide were an increase in the number of drugs ingested, in the dose ingested or in coma score, a decrease in Glasgow Coma Score, and an increase in drug or alcohol misuse. Concludes patients who have escalating severity of self-poisoning episodes are at high risk of completed suicide.
Some children and adults with severe learning disabilities typically display behaviour which may put themselves or others at risk, or which may prevent the use of ordinary community facilities or a normal home life. This behaviour may be in the form of aggression, self injury, stereotyped behaviour or disruptive and destructive behaviours. These behaviours are not under the control of the individual concerned and are largely due to the individual’s lack of ability to communicate.
Some children and adults with severe learning disabilities typically display behaviour which may put themselves or others at risk, or which may prevent the use of ordinary community facilities or a normal home life. This behaviour may be in the form of aggression, self injury, stereotyped behaviour or disruptive and destructive behaviours. These behaviours are not under the control of the individual concerned and are largely due to the individual’s lack of ability to communicate.
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(11), November 2005, pp.1090-1096.
Publisher:
Wiley
Deliberate self harm (DSH) in later life is under researched and is believed to be related to both mental illness and suicide. The aim of the study was to examine deliberate self-harm (DSH) in older people presenting to acute hospital services over three years. This was a retrospective observational study. We reviewed 97 episodes of DSH involving 82 patients aged 65 and over referred Twenty-three percent of all patients saw a General Practitioner (GP) in the 7 days before the episode of DSH and this increased to 58% in the 4 weeks preceding the episode of DSH. More males (56%) than females (26%) who presented with DSH were married. The most common method of DSH (93%) was medication overdose of which 66% used prescribed medication. There was no difference in the methods used to self-harm
Deliberate self harm (DSH) in later life is under researched and is believed to be related to both mental illness and suicide. The aim of the study was to examine deliberate self-harm (DSH) in older people presenting to acute hospital services over three years. This was a retrospective observational study. We reviewed 97 episodes of DSH involving 82 patients aged 65 and over referred to the Liaison Psychiatric Service of the Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust South Locality from 2000 to 2002. There was a year on year increase in the number of older people presenting with DSH, especially in men. Twenty-one percent of older men had no discernible psychiatric diagnosis. There were a small number of people who repeated DSH within a year and males were as likely to be repeaters as females. Twenty-three percent of all patients saw a General Practitioner (GP) in the 7 days before the episode of DSH and this increased to 58% in the 4 weeks preceding the episode of DSH. More males (56%) than females (26%) who presented with DSH were married. The most common method of DSH (93%) was medication overdose of which 66% used prescribed medication. There was no difference in the methods used to self-harm between men or women. DSH in the elderly may start to mirror some of the characteristics seen in younger adults with DSH. While the numbers of DSH per year are small among the elderly compared to younger adults, the observations suggest an increase in DSH in men. Marriage may no longer be a protective factor in prevention of DSH among older men. Longer-term observational studies of DSH in older people are required to confirm these changing patterns. GPs may have an important role to play in prevention of DSH in later life.
Subject terms:
older people, research methods, self-harm, gender, general practitioners;