Reasons for the increase in self-harm among teens
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Watch Wendy Lader, PhD's video on Reasons for the increase in self-harm among teens...
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We are actually not sure about the increase. I know, as a clinician, I am seeing a tremendous increase in the number of people who are writing to us and calling and parents.
In the past, when I first started in the 1980's, all of these behaviors were considered suicidal. They weren't labeled as self-injurious, so we really don't have statistics on how many kids were doing it back then. In my opinion, and most of the school teachers and clinicians that I know, we are seeing an explosion of this behavior.
The question is: Why? What's different now, that kids are engaging in these behaviors. We don't really have good information on that, but we do have ideas about where that might be coming from.
The biggest is our society is becoming increasingly disenfranchised. By that I mean, we have an increase in divorce. We have two parents working and there is no one home to feed kids dinner and to ask them how their day went. Kids are getting a lot of information off of the internet, as opposed to people that care about them and love them.
I think, despite we have all of this technology, kids are feeling a sense of isolation and loneliness that they may not have experienced in the past.
Watch Wendy Lader, PhD's video on Reasons for the increase in self-harm among teens...
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Wendy Lader, PhDPsychologist
Dr. Lader is co-founder and clinical director of the S.A.F.E. (Self Abuse Finally Ends) Alternatives Program. An internationally recognized expert on the treatment of self-injury, she lectures extensively on the subject and is co-author of the book, Bodily Harm: The Breakthrough Healing Program for Self-Injurers as well as Self Injury: A Manual for School Professionals. In addition, she served as the expert for a training video on Self-Injury for the American Psychological Association. Dr. Lader is co- founder of the Self-Injury Foundation and a founding member of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury.
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