Young people's stories of self-harm: a narrative study

This study explores the way in which adolescents who have engaged in self-harm make sense of their self-harm and its relationship to the events that have occurred in their lives. The six adolescents (aged between 13 and 18 years) who had been engaging in self-harm were invited to tell their life stories. The analysis explored both the content and the structure of these narratives in order to identify what they regarded to be key events in their lives and also what appeared to have been defended and less fully integrated features of their lives. A primary finding was that the adolescents perceive a severe lack of understanding from others about self-harm, which appeared to inhibit them from developing coherent narratives. They also found it difficult to discuss and integrate the difficulties behind their self-harm, giving narratives that were poorly integrated with little true resolution. One prominent story shared by this group was a story of self-harm as a way of directing their anger inwards. The findings highlight the importance for adolescents of access to conversations where difficult past events can be processed and understood within the context of a life story, and the implications for identity formation.