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In a Canadian study entitled "The Scope of Non-suicidal Self-Injury on YouTube," (see below) published in this month's issue of "Pediatrics" — the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics — researchers noted an alarming trend of teens and others posting online videos of themselves engaging in injurious behavior.
The study, conducted last year by researchers at the University of Guelph in the Ontario province of Canada and at McGill University in Montreal in the Quebec province of Canada, involved analyzing 100 videos posted on YouTube.
According to the website http://www.teenhelp.com/ there are few statistics the United States or other countries on non-suicidal self-injury because relatively few studies have been done on the topic.
Read more...
Here is an interesting video produced by a non-profit organization (TWLOHA).
TWLOHA is dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.
TWLOHA + Dustin Kensrue at Florida
Related links
TWLOHA's Channel
To Write Love on Her Arms (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
The Scope of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury on YouTube
By Stephen P. Lewis, PhD, Nancy L. Heath, PhD, Jill M. St Denis, MA and Rick Noble, BS.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Nonsuicidal self-injury, the deliberate destruction of one's body tissue (eg, self-cutting, burning) without suicidal intent, has consistent rates ranging from 14% to 24% among youth and young adults. With more youth using video-sharing Web sites (eg, YouTube), this study examined the accessibility and scope of nonsuicidal self-injury videos online.
METHODS Using YouTube's search engine (and the following key words: "self-injury" and "self-harm"), the 50 most viewed character (ie, with a live individual) and noncharacter videos (100 total) were selected and examined across key quantitative and qualitative variables.
RESULTS The top 100 videos analyzed were viewed over 2 million times, and most (80%) were accessible to a general audience. Viewers rated the videos positively (M = 4.61; SD: 0.61 out of 5.0) and selected videos as a favorite over 12 000 times. The videos' tones were largely factual or educational (53%) or melancholic (51%). Explicit imagery of self-injury was common. Specifically, 90% of noncharacter videos had nonsuicidal self-injury photographs, whereas 28% of character videos had in-action nonsuicidal self-injury. For both, cutting was the most common method. Many videos (58%) do not warn about this content.
CONCLUSIONS The nature of nonsuicidal self-injury videos on YouTube may foster normalization of nonsuicidal self-injury and may reinforce the behavior through regular viewing of nonsuicidal self-injury–themed videos. Graphic videos showing nonsuicidal self-injury are frequently accessed and received positively by viewers. These videos largely provide nonsuicidal self-injury information and/or express a hopeless or melancholic message. Professionals working with youth and young adults who enact nonsuicidal self-injury need to be aware of the scope and nature of nonsuicidal self-injury on YouTube.
Source: The Citizen
