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Suicidality and Self-Harm

Social Problems in Our Society: (Research Paper Analysis)

Department of Psychology – Francis Marion University

Xavier M. Stagg
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A. Introduction

Suicide, suicidality, and self-harm are considered intense and dangerous behaviors in

today’s society. Suicide is defined by the law as “means an act to deliberately injure oneself

resulting in death, as recorded and classified by the competent national authority” (“Suicide

Definition: 104 Samples”). Suicide and self-harm is looked down upon in our society from

different perspectives that are driven by personal beliefs.

Self-harm is defined as “is the act of purposely hurting oneself (as by cutting or burning

the skin) as an emotional coping mechanism also called self-injury or self-mutilation” (Merriam

Dictionary, 2020). This paper will provide information from outside sources from academia

professionals including; social/biological factors, psychological and sociological

perspectives/theories, treatment methods for individuals who possess a danger to themselves

specifically, etc.

Prevalence (Suicide): The prevalence of suicide will continue to change, which makes it

difficult to give an exact number due to all the research that there is still to be done. Suicide tends

to be higher between ages 18-25 primarily younger individuals. There is many reasons for this

including social, economic, or psychological distress. Psychological issues are more common with

adolescents and younger adults. “During 2015 – 2019, an estimated 10.6 million (annual average)

adults in the United States (4.3% of the adult population) reported having suicidal thoughts in the

past year. Official suicide statistics suggests that “In 2020, was 13.48 per 100,000 individuals”.

The rates of suicide typically to be higher with middle aged white men” (American Foundation for

Suicide Prevention). Males are more likely to be more successful when committing suicide than

women. It is also noted that men are more likely to use more harmful forces when committing
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suicide. Women have the highest attempts when it comes to committing suicide. Women are more

commonly using other methods in attempt to unalive themselves. These methods seem to be less

violent or harsh than what males use.

Prevalence (self-harm): Self harm is more prevalent with teenagers than any age group.

When individuals begin to self-harm is usually begins at the age of 13. Here is an analysis of self-

harm taken from statistics of reported incidents; “About 17% of all people will self-harm during

their lifetime” (Hull). “About 50% of people seek help for their self-harm but only from family

and friends as opposed to mental health professionals” (Hull). The age groups of self-harm tends

to be around the ages of 13-18 in more clinical settings. This can include psychiatric hospitals,

outpatient facilities, which can include community mental health centers, etc.

More likely to self-harm/suicidality (Gender Factors II): Females are more likely to

self-harm than males. Although many adolescent males who are patients in psychiatric hospitals

do pose a higher risk of suicidality. Adolescent girls have more of a higher susceptibility to self-

harming when being placed into psychiatric mental health facilities. This research will continue to

change in the next years according to mental health professionals.

Brief mention of causes: Causes of suicide can range from person to person, it all depends.

Many issues can stem from psychological factors which can include internalized and externalized

behavioral factors. Other issues can include socioeconomic factors which can play a significant

role in a person's life. These socioeconomic factors can influence a person's thinking including

having suicidal thoughts more than self-harming. Socioeconomic factors can include living in

poverty or being considered a “middle class” citizen of society. Other issues can include social

factors including relationship conflicts, marital problems, work problems, etc. which exacerbate

suicidal thoughts and can increase the risk of self-harming. Other issues will be described further.
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Causes of Suicide/Suicidality Behaviors and Self-harm: Many individuals turn to

suicide to cope with emotional/psychological stress. Many issues arise from school, work,

family/relationship issues, personal issues that relate to psychological stress including depression,

anxiety, abnormal behaviors that may seem out of the norm, or other psychiatric disorders that

create a risk for self-harm or suicidality. Inner pain can be very difficult to deal with causing

emotional harm to one’s self. Many individuals experience this level of pain to the point where it

can lead to harmful thoughts and behaviors. Suicide is a topic that many people feel uncomfortable

about since it is a reoccurring behavior in our society. When the pain gets too overwhelming to

the point where there is nowhere else to turn to suicide then becomes an option. Many people can

lose someone who is considered to be a special person in his/her life. This can be a family member,

friend, or even a pet. Academic difficulties can be a factor in a person's suicide plan, behavior, or

ideations.

Self-harm is the same as suicide but it holds a different meaning to those who engage in it.

Self-harm is not necessarily a way for people to get rid of themselves completely. Self-harm and

suicide are two complete distinctions but have some of the same concepts. There is many

psychiatric factors that come into play finding out the internal causes of self-harm. According to

Pine Grove Treatment Blog here are some reasons why individuals self-harm from a survey:

“Desire to release tension” many individuals are at a loss for words and resort to self-harm as a

way to create meaning to themselves. “Desire to gain a sense of control” when outside factors are

too overwhelming to deal with and out of control, self-harm gives individuals that sense of control

specifically to their bodies. “Boredom” this is a surprising one that many people don’t really look

at. This boredom can create a sense of euphoria in the body, when nothing seems interesting to a
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person that boredom can produce feelings that may be too tough to deal with. Other factors can

include “Numbness” or even “self-hatred” (Shelby).

Assumptions/Stigmatization with Suicide: Those who engage in suicidal behaviors

typically get a strong reaction from family and friends. Society views suicide as “abnormal”,

“crazy” , “unhinged”, “attention seekers” , “People who take there own lives are selfish and

don’t care how they make there loved ones feel” selfishness is the biggest misconception that

there is. The main reason that people take their lives is due to the strong societal reactions which

can include little to no support or even a loss sense of hope for oneself. These reactions don’t

appeal to everyone, these reactions are just more common depending on the situation and the

person’s support system dynamic. Suicidal feelings tend to be internalized which makes it harder

to see what a person is dealing with. Mental health professionals state that “Spotting someone

suicidal isn’t easy at all, in fact individuals hide it very well”. This then creates a higher risk for

those who are suffering from suicidal feelings and increasing the risk for actually attempting to

commit suicide. Suicidal individuals usually suffer in silence unfortunately. There is a giant

stigma for individuals who commit suicide and with people who have suicidal ideations. The

stigmas can come from a religious standpoint, social, or even cultural dispositions.

Assumptions/Stigmatization with Self-harm: Self-harm can get a lot of negative

reactions and it can also get a lot of positive reactions. There is many assumptions when it comes

to individuals who engage in self-harming behaviors. Just like suicide, many people believe that

self-harm is an attention seeking behavior. This is not the case in many situations, in fact many

people who self-harm are self-harming as a scream for help. According to Recovery Village

there is many different assumptions that people have about people who self-harm. Some of the

assumptions include; “Cutting is the only form of self-harm” this is not true. (The Recovery
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Village). There are many other forms of self-harm. “Many people who self-injure don’t feel

pain” in fact people who self-injure do experience pain (The Recovery Village). That sense of

pain has many different meanings depending on the person. That pain releases endorphins into

the body which can produce feelings of euphoria. For example, someone who rides a roller

coaster can feel that adrenaline in their body and can feel euphoria. These feelings of euphoria

tend to be “not normal” but individuals who self-harm may feel euphoria when self-harming.

Another example is someone who uses a controlled substance may feel that intense excitement in

their bodies and potentially feel good. Those feelings of euphoria produces those endorphins

through the body which is why many people use them. This applies for individuals who self-

harm it is the physiological response to physical suffering which desensitizes the pain.

“Only adolescents self-harm” (The Recovery Village) adolescents are not the only ones

who self-harm. Adolescents do hold a higher risk of self-harm and self-harm more than adults

but, this doesn’t mean just adolescents’ self-harm. Certain Psychiatric disorders can hold

symptoms of “self-harm” risky this can include depressive, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive

disorders, and other. Many adults have psychological disorders which can increase the risk of

self-harm and in many cases, individuals do self-harm which can be a part of their clinical

diagnoses.

(2) Theories of Suicide: Theories associated with suicidal behaviors are complex and

broad from a sociological perspective and understanding. Emile Durkheim had an important

factor in explaining his theories of suicide and even created a book of his work. He opened his

writing with “there are two sorts of extra-social causes in which one may, a priori, attribute the

influence on the suicide-rate; they are organic-psychic dispositions and the nature of the physical

environment” (“Theories Explaining Suicidal Behaviors”). Durkheim came up with many

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different explanations for suicide from a sociological standpoint describing his research.

Durkheim believed suicide is caused by external forces and strains in our relationships that we

hold with others. Durkheim carried two main principles of his work that focuses on the causes

and justification of suicidality: (1) “that the structure of suicide rates is a positive function of the

structure of a group or class of people’s social relationships”. (2) “that social relationships vary

according to their level or integration and (moral) regulation” (Mueller et al.).

Durkheim was able to focus on many different causes and sociological functions that

explain his views on suicidality. Durkheim was interested in why individuals turned to suicide to

handle the harsh realities of society including poverty, interpersonal conflicts, addictions,

psychological dysfunction’s, etc. There was a deep issue rooted in suicidal thoughts and

behaviors that he mentioned. In order for a person to become suicidal and even have the thought

come to mind a person would have to deal with so much in their lives to reach that point.

According to Durkheim there is four types of suicide that he identified. The four types of

suicide include; egoistic suicide, altruistic suicide, anomic suicide, and fatalistic suicide. These

types of suicide play a major framework into Durkheim work. Egoistic suicide relates “to the

person being alone from the outsider or distant from society and subsequently they see

themselves alone within the world. This type of person has a low interaction from others” (Types

of Suicide). This means that the suicidal individual doesn’t have any interest in socializing with

others and tends to isolate from society in general.

The next type of suicide is altruistic suicide which is when “a social group involvement is

too high, expectation from a group is being met at a very high level such as a sacrifice for a cult

or religion. Another example would be Marta or a suicide bomber”. This just means that a person

holds high expectations from a particular social group like a religion or a cult to sacrifice
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themselves as a means to gain religious or social gratification. This form is more extreme. The

next type of suicide is anomic suicide which relates “to a low degree of regulation and this kind

of suicide is carried out during periods of considerable stress and frustration. A good example

would be great financial loss or when the financial market that person’s controls collapses with

severe consequences for many involved” (Types of Suicide). Anomic suicide just means that the

individual has lacked social regulation and can occur due to high levels of stress, anxiety, and

frustration’s.

The last form of suicide is Fatalistic suicide which is when “people are kept under tight

regulation such as in Korea. Where the extreme rule in order or high expectations set upon a

person or peoples in which lead to a sense of no self or individuality” (Types of Suicide). This

form of suicide means that individual(s) are held in extreme and painful situations that cause

psychological/physical harm to that individual. This then creates a sense of emptiness, agony,

internalized stress, or even high levels of depression. Examples can include; a victim of human

trafficking that is put into inhuman conditions, domestic/sexual abuse, etc.

(Here is the types of suicide based on

Durkheim’s four types, which describes the person and feelings not much of the act).
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The final theory that I will be analyzing will be Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. This

theory is somewhat difficult to understand. According to this theory which purposes that suicide

“results from the combination of a perception of burdening others, social alienation, and the

capability of self-harming” (Joiner et al). This is just a basic concept of suicide. This theory not

only holds a sociological meaning but also holds a scientific and clinical meaning to

professionals. The broader definition of this theory is that suicide “posits that suicidal desire

emerges when individuals experience intractable feelings of perceived burdensomeness and

thwarted belongingness and that near lethal or lethal suicidal behavior occurs in the presence of

suicidal desire and capability for suicide” (Chu et al.). Which means that suicidal individuals

have a sense that they are burdening others and taking up space in other people lives especially

loved ones. Individuals experience a sense of loneliness and alienate themselves from society

which then creates a feeling of burden and loss of meaning from themselves. This is what drives

many people to suicidal behaviors which is composed from uselessness. This theory was tested

mainly on psychiatric patients and outpatients who pose a much higher risk to commit suicide

and engage in suicidality including prison inmates. This theory was developed by Thomas Joiner

who was raised and grew up in Georgia. Much of his work focused on studying suicidality and

the components of the high-risk behavior. Joiner received his PhD from the University of Texas.

(Here is a chart of the hypothesized)

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Theory with Self-harm: Theories with Self-harm can be difficult and easy at the same

time to understand. This could be due to the lack of knowledge and research in understanding the

psychopathology with self-harm in general. But self-harm can be easy to understand as well as

some basic understandings on why individuals engage in self-harm. The main reason is

emotional dysregulation and being unable to handle painful emotions. I will be analyzing one of

the theories known as the Experimental Avoidance Theory of Self Harm. This theory has more

data backed up based on clinical insights from mental health professionals. This theory explains

that individuals who engage in “NSSI” are self-harming due to avoidance of external and internal

stimulation which then causes unwanted cognitive associations like memories, thoughts, or

emotions. Overwhelming feelings of sadness, stress, emotional exhaustion, and other feelings

that create distress in ones life. These painful emotions then produce avoidance in ones life

which then leads to self-harming behaviors. For an example a woman who has been a victim of

rape may be significantly distressed about the traumatic event. The distress is so intense that the

woman goes into a cycle of avoidance. The victim begins to go into a depression, engaging in

risky behaviors (compulsive drinking, spending, getting high, etc.) These behaviors are identified

as “avoidance” to take the focus off the traumatic event that happened which was the rape. This

theory is a strong hypothesis and more of a causation.

This is the experimental avoidance model is a chart that talks about the processes that

may go on in ones head deliberating if they should self-harm or not. Much of this chart focuses

on the cognitive aspects and reasoning’s of an individual considering self-harm. The first idea is

the stimulus or the environment one is involved in that provokes the negative feelings. Next step

follows the emotional response which can equate to many painful emotions. Here is a clinical

equation that gives a better description (Emotional response + anger + depression + low self-
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esteem = self-harm). This isn’t the case all the time but gives you an idea of potential causes that

could lead someone to self-harming. The key component is that painful emotions or even poor

emotional regulation could lead to engaging in the risky behaviors. There has been many

different clinical trials to prove this hypothesis.

We know that many feelings can be too difficult to handle, especially in a young persons life.

The amount of stress and social pressures into fitting in can be too difficult to deal with, causing

someone to go into this cycle of deliberation to self-harm and get rid of the feelings. Many times,

self-harming can just create more negative responses to the brain and signaling a physiological

response or even an emotional response.

(Here is the Experiential Avoidance Model of

Deliberate self-harm).

Types of suicide attempts: According to academic research studying analyzing the

methods of suicide and gender differences. This research study gives an analysis on the methods

of suicide according to statistics. About 46% of individuals have a drug overdose, 14% stabbing,

6% hanging, 6% jumping from height, 5% pesticide poisoning,

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Work Cited

“Suicide Definition: 104 Samples.” Law Insider, www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/suicide.

Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.

Dictionary, Merrian. “Definition of SELF-HARM.” Www.merriam-Webster.com,

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-harm.

Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

Hull, Megan. “Self-Harm Statistics and Facts | the Recovery Village.” The Recovery Village

Drug and Alcohol Rehab, 17 Aug. 2021, www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/self-

harm/self-harm-statistics/

Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “Suicide Statistics.” American Foundation for

Suicide Prevention, 17 Feb. 2022, afsp.org/suicide-statistics/.

Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.

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Shelby. “7 Reasons Why People Self-Harm | How to Get Them Help.” Pine Grove

Behavioral Health & Addiction Services, 31 Mar. 2021,

www.pinegrovetreatment.com/blog/2021/03/why-people-self-harm/.

Accessed 6 Apr. 2023

“Theories Explaining Suicidal Behaviors.” Youth Suicide Research Consortium,

www.youthsuicideresearch.org/blog/theories-explaining-suicidal-

behaviorsblog/youthresearchorg.

Accessed 9 Apr. 2023

“Theories Explaining Suicidal Behaviors.” Youth Suicide Research Consortium,

www.youthsuicideresearch.org/blog/theories-explaining-suicidal-

behaviorsblog/youthresearchorg.

Accessed 9 Apr. 2023

Types of Suicide. “Types of Suicide - Open College.” Open College, 16 Feb. 2016,

www.opencollege.info/types-of-suicide/.

Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.

Mueller, Anna S., et al. “The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World

Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 31 Mar. 2021,

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621569/full,

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621569.
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