Self-harm is just tip of iceberg

The pain inside was so powerful she could not overcome it in any way apart from causing more pain.

Self-harm is the tip of the iceberg of a larger problem of personal development according to the administrator of Caritas, which is holding an educational meeting tomorrow about this growing phenomenon.

The feedback it receives will help the agency decide what service it could provide for young people who fall victim of self-harm. About three people are admitted to hospital every day after harming themselves and psychiatrist Anton Grech told this newspaper such cases had to be taken seriously because they could lead to death.

Caritas administrator Albert Buttigieg believes there are two categories of young people who commit self-harm: those who experiment or are pressured by their peers and those who do it to express sorrow. While, in the past, people would abuse substances, it seemed that nowadays they were resorting to self-harm, and psychologists in contact with Caritas have noticed an increase in cases.

“Self-harm is the tip of the iceberg of a more profound issue that youths are facing. Caritas is reacting by raising more awareness so that educators and parents will know how to deal with this problem,” Dr Buttigieg said.

He added that people were not being taught how to handle new emotions brought on by youth. The meeting tomorrow – there are no World Cup football matches on the day – will run between 6.30 and 8pm at Caritas, at the Curia, in Floriana. It is open to parents, educators and social workers who want to better understand the issue of self-harm.

An 18-year-old woman will be sharing her self-harm experience, which started when she was about 14. Adolescence brought about changes and an earthquake, Caritas’ fundraiser Marica Mizzi said. “This girl had a conflict with her own sexuality and she was hurt on the inside, wondering whether her family and friends would accept her.

“When we asked her what she felt when she was physically hurting herself, she said the pain inside was so powerful that she could not overcome it in any way apart from causing more pain.” For the girl, self-harm, which started as an experiment, became an addiction. She knew of some eight others, within a sports group of 20 people that she formed part of, who self-harmed.

Ms Mizzi questioned the level of awareness of parents about challenges young people were going through nowadays.

“The experiences our counsellors deal with show we are living in a society where parents are absent from home for long hours. Meanwhile, children live in a virtual world and open up to someone online, whom they might not even know, instead of talking to their parents.” She spoke of a 14-year-old boy who managed to reach out to his parents through counselling at Caritas. However, there were others who locked themselves up in the virtual world. While their parents were glad that they were at home instead of staying out late, they could be either abusing some substance or self-harming.

Caritas refers people who selfharm to professionals but it was now considering setting up a unit specific to the issue.

“We do not believe that a 14-year-old should end up at Mount Carmel Hospital and if she seeks psychological help, she needs to have money to fun the therapy. “Caritas, which provides services for free, feels duty bound to provide support within this field,” Ms Mizzi said.

She noted that issues of drug addiction, anorexia and self-harm usually boiled down to lack of selfdevelopment, inferiority complex and low self-esteem. Young people were not being taught how to be assertive with peer pressure and there was lack of therapy through music, art, drama and sport at schools. The education system should not just focus on the academic remit but also prioritise pupils’ personal development, she said.

Dr Albert Buttigieg pointed out that the education system had made many improvements and had strong safety nets, including counsellors, social workers and PSD teachers. “Yet, there are still children who are falling through. We need to do some rethinking to find those who are falling through.”

(This article was published on The Sunday Times of Malta – 26 June, 2014)