Aurora 2021 Mag

Eric Hubbard

* Self-harm can be symptomatic of a serious mental health issue that requires professional intervention. However, as one can imagine, those most likely to first become aware of a loved one’s self-harm, such as parents, siblings, intimate partners and close friends, struggle greatly with this awareness and what to do about it. There is a tendency to view self-harm as a juvenile call for attention, or something that he or she will “grow out of.” Young people who self-harm can become the focus for punishment, mental and in some cases even physical abuse by frustrated family, as well as enduring terminated friendships or a banishment from social circles due to the stigma that can surround self-harm. This can especially be the case if a negative, abusive home or social environment is already causing or acting as a catalyst for self-harm. Fear of suicide is arguably one of the primary reasons why friends and family tend to avoid becoming involved, until it can be too late. There are a broad range of disorders that encompass self-harm; although not all of these disorders are inclusive of suicide, there are direct correlations between the presence of self-harm and increased suicide attempts (Skegg, 2005). Suicide rates in the United States have increased nearly 28% just between 2000 and 2015, and in response to this dramatic increase, there is a new call for psychologists to shift from relying on medical risk-factor-based tools to embrace newer holistic methods for conducting suicide risk assessments and interventions, to better identify the telltale signs, understand and treat mental health issues that may lead to suicide (Sommers-Flanagan & Shaw, 2017). No matter how painful it can be for family and friends, the sooner a professional mental health care provider can provide intervention, the more likely for a positive outcome. Self-harm is more understood by professionals as “not a cry for attention, but a cry of pain” that needs to be taken seriously by not only those loved ones close to the person suffering, but by those who interact with an individual outside of the home, such as teachers, group leaders, coworkers, fellow students and, yes, even cat wranglers (Skegg, 2005, p. 1479). Although serious mental health issues require professional intervention, this intervention does not start with the psychologist. It starts with the loved ones who first notice the self-harm occurring and choose to help. * I am happy to report that we still see Brynn, now a college freshman, usually smiling happily, hand in hand with Tina, both heading

16