By Their Own Young Hand: Deliberate Self-harm and Suicidal Ideas in Adolescents

by Karen Rodham, Keith Hawton, Emma Evans

Self-harm in adolescents is an increasingly recognized problem, and there is growing awareness of the important role schools and health services can play in detecting and supporting those at risk. By Their Own Young Hand explores the findings of the first large-scale survey of deliberate self-harm and suicidal thinking in adolescents in the UK, and draws out the implications for prevention strategies and mental health promotion. Six thousand young people were asked about their experiences of self-harm, the coping methods they use, and their attitudes to the help and support available. The authors identify the risk and protective factors for self-harm, exploring why some adolescents with suicidal thoughts go on to harm themselves while others do not, what motivates some young people to seek help, and whether distressed teenagers feel they receive the support they need. By Their Own Young Hand offers practical advice on how schools can detect young people at risk, cope with the aftermath of self-harm or attempted suicide, and develop training programmes for teachers. It also examines the roles of self-help, telephone helplines, email counselling, and walk-in crisis centres. Packed with adolescents' own personal accounts and perspectives, this accessible overview will be essential reading for teachers, social workers and mental health professionals.

Genres: Mental Health

264 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2006

About the author

Karen Rodham is a Professor of Health Psychology at Staffordshire University. Her research focuses on understanding how people cope with difficult health-related situations. She has more than twenty years' experience of working as an academic in different universities. In addition, from 2006-2013 alongside her academic job, she worked as a practising health psychologist and led the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome psychology service for adults at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases. In her spare time she enjoys hill walking and uses her mountain leader qualification to teach young people about walking and camping safely in the hills.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written survey given to over 5,000 students (15-16 years old) in England seeks to answer many questions: thoughts vs. actions, premeditation vs. impulsiveness, motives, mode, differences between boys and girls when it comes to self-harm behavior, whether or not kids seek help. If they do, from whom? If they don't, why not? As a mother of a 17-year old son who took his life over a year ago, I found this book very helpful as I seek to understand why.