We all know that food has a very direct link to our well-being and mental and physical health. Similarly, our mental state determines the type of food we eat.

In an increasingly globalised competitive world, people, including young people, are having to deal with various kinds of pressures and situations, much different from previous generations. This is coupled with emotional vulnerability, bullying amongst peers, de-motivation and insecurities, and which for some, becomes too difficult to deal with. For some people, self harm becomes a conscious or unconscious act that helps them to deal with these added pressures.

Though self harm trends are more noticeable among young people, it is by no means restricted to the younger generation. Due to a combination of work pressure, family, societal and lifestyle issues, adults also experience self harming behaviour that requires self harm help. A depressed state of mind  can encourage self harm as sometimes the mind sees harming the self as a means of dealing with the underlying issues. Under these circumstances, the right kind of nutrition   intake can go a long way in shaping the behavioural patterns of people with self harming tendencies.

Nutrients

Food contains various nutrients and vitamins. Each type of nutrient stimulates different organs of the body. Studies have shown that carbohydrates stimulate serotonin production. Serotonin which is also known as hydroxytryptamine is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets and in the central nervous system. It is a major contributor of feelings of well-being: therefore it is also known as a “happiness hormone” though it is not actually a hormone.

According to Randy Sanstone, John Livett and Lori Sanstone in their article “Eating Disorders and Self-Harm: A chaotic intersection” about 25% of Eating Disorder patients are prone to non-fatal self harm. A further quarter of people with self harm tendencies and who suffer from Eating Disorders also have border line personality disorder.  Eating disorders can create other emotional challenges including a ‘chaotic inner-self’, problems in expressing oneself, stress and anger issues.

People with eating disorder challenges, deal with the issues in different ways. Some people purge themselves, otherwise known as bulimia, which has a cycle of under-eating and over-eating leading to a sense of low self esteem and needing to purge. Some people have binge eating tendencies which can also include increasing their carbohydrate intake. This can be symbolized as a stifling of their emotions; whilst others eat very little at all (starvation) known as anorexia.

Beyond Self Harm & Eating Disorder

Therapy can help people with eating disorder related self harm. Therapy in groups or individually can assist people to understand their eating habits and the functions that food plays in their lives.  Research shows that people exhibiting self harm benefit greatly from talking therapies which also focus on the underlying issues behind the self harm and/or eating disorder, and the functions that they play in the person’s life. Medical intervention is also used to reduce self harming behaviour.

 Given that self harm and eating disorder is more prevalent in schools than ever before, teachers and teaching support staff would benefit from self harm awareness training to enable them to get a better understanding of the underlying issues in order to be able to offer self harm help to self harming pupils.

Self harm behaviour and eating habits and disorders are intricately related. Research shows that focusing on the underlying issues behind these habits, however, can and does reduce or eradicate the need to self harm.

As always with everything that people want to change, the person must want to change or improve in order for any treatment to work, otherwise time, effort and treatment become counterproductive.

We have all heard by now of the rise in self harm amongst young people. For some parents this news will have come as a complete shock on hearing that one of those young people is their son or daughter.

Then starts the challenge of knowing which is the best approach to adopt in supporting your child, in supporting yourself  and the rest of the family, and of course, dealing with the self harming activity itself. This is also coupled with the challenge of knowing where to turn for help and which professional to approach!

In addition to the above, there are the added challenges of dealing with a gamut of raw emotions such as fear, guilt, sadness, anxiety, hurt, together with self blame, blaming other family members and/or the person who is self harming, in an attempt to somehow find a way through this situation and wondering why people self harm.

In these circumstances, parents can often feel quite alone, isolated and

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 frustrated. With the stigma attached to self harm and some medical professional’s unhelpful approach to self harm, it is not always an easy situation and condition to deal with or get appropriate support for. The search for real help is made that much harder with websites promoting how to self harm. That said, parents self blame, however, does not help them or the situation, but rather keeps them stuck. There are a myriad of reasons why the self harming activity occurred in the first place.                                                                  

For instance, it can be triggered by simple causes like exam pressure to other complex family related matters. An open flow of information and communication is definitely the key in getting to the root cause of the self harming behaviour and gaining more self harm awareness.

Self harming activities are wide ranging and not just the stereotypical cutting. Hair pulling, alcohol abuse, gang culture, self neglect and head banging are just some other examples of self harm. It is also an activity that transcends all cultures, societies, religion and ages, starting from as young as three or four years old to senior citizens in their eighties. Indeed, some parents are themselves people who self harm and may have concerns about the knock on effect that this will have on their children.

There isn’t a typical person who self harms or a typical family that people who self harm come from.

Given that self harm is generally a cry for help, the situation isn’t just going to go away by itself! Parents require an avenue and means of getting the help and self harm support and open communication to deal with it.

One source of information is seeking advice via your local GP/doctor and another is via local counselling or therapeutic interventions.

The main thing is to acknowledge that there is a situation that needs to be dealt with if the whole family is to move forward.

3 Strikes and You’re O*U!T!

Many of you will have heard by now of the UK Coalition government’s ‘Back To Work’ and ‘Benefit Reform’ proposals to get people off the benefit system and back into the workplace (or into work for the first time!). Whilst most of us agree that change is necessary, the way in which the government is speeding ahead will undoubtedly affect some of your service users or someone who you might know.

This is quite an emotive topic for many people for different reasons.

The Proposals include:

• Capping housing benefit from April 2011, which will also be reduced by 10% for anyone who has been on jobseekers allowance for more than a year
• Withdrawing benefits for Jobseeker claimants for three months for refusing their first job offer. After a second refusal of work, they will lose their benefit for six months; and for three years on their third refusal.
• Reduction and elimination of child tax credits

Advantages of this proposal:

→ The government suggests it will reduce the amount of money to be clawed back from benefit recipients who attempt to go back to work, thus alleviating the ‘benefit trap’.

→ Government wants more people in work

→ Government’s proposals set the tone for more people who are able to work to gain employment and be back in the workplace.

→ Makes people consider what is important to them

Disadvantage of these proposals:

→ Reduced minimum wage which means many more people will be working for less

→ Employers would be at liberty to reduce wages as they know that people must accept the job offer or face the consequences of losing their benefit

→ Automatic system doesn’t discriminate between people’s individual circumstances, e.g. parents with young children, parents of children who are sickly or require extra specialist care, variations in their sickness or disability. If their benefit is stopped automatically and people can provide a ‘good reason’ for it to be reinstated, they will already be without benefits for weeks before it is re-instated (or indeed before they find out that it has been stopped!)

→ Increased distress of some of the most vulnerable people in society including single parents, people experiencing domestic violence or self harm and people with disabilities. The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that such a ‘policy could drive vulnerable people into despair’

→ The Coalition government has abandoned the previous government’s guarantee of work AND offer of training to those wishing to go back to work, or work for the first time

→ Coalition government is getting rid of the child tax credit some parents used to get towards assistance with nursery fees. Those who have had their children in private nursery will know that nursery fees can be as much as paying a month’s mortgage!

→ If these proposals go ahead, there is likely to be greater mismatch of new employees taking on new job roles, creating employee relations situations in the workplace at a time when it is least needed

Photo: Courtesy of Carl – Flickr

→ The government’s speed of changes will more than likely create added burden on family units and family systems that may already be fragile, vulnerable or may already be affected by the governments own job cuts and other budget reduction strategies including employees accepting reduced salaries just to keep hold of their existing jobs

→ Simultaneously removing people’s safety nets

→ With the backdrop of more cutbacks, current redundancies, rise in unemployment, closure of important frontline services, the government is surely setting people up to fail!? Where will all these unemployed people find jobs? Douglas Alexander, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “If the Government gets this right we will support them because of course we accept the underlying principle of simplifying the benefits system and providing real incentives to work. But the Government will not get more people off benefits and into work without there being work available.”

→ It is estimated that ‘750,000 households could fall into debt, hardship or lose their homes under the imminent housing benefit cap, and people with several children will be worse off. High rents in cities could result in “social cleansing” as families are forced to move to areas with cheaper rents. This doesn’t take into consideration that people will have existing rental contracts to adhere to.

I know some of you reading this Ezine will already have experienced some of the effects of the government’s proposals and spending review strategies in one way or another, from a personal or professional perspective. I have already experienced them from a personal perspective of my hospital referral being blocked by one of the senior doctors at my GP surgery. I was invited to see him to justify and persuade him to continue with the referral. Why should I be put in a position of having to persuade my GP to help me improve my health?

And, given the client group I work with, I am manoeuvring my business well away from the governments clutches!

How parents or people who self harm can help themselves in light of current and impending government changes:

•   Seek advice from relevant agencies e.g. Citizens Advice Centre (C.A.B.), Consumer Credit Counselling Services (CCCS), Jobcentre Plus

•   If they are not already doing so, embark on a journey of personal and/or professional development

•  Counselling if relevant or necessary, even if only to have clarity and peace of mind in moving forwards with making relevant changes

•  Revisit their skills base and have an open mind as to how else they could be utilized

•  Perhaps embark on re-training

•  If current financial resources allow, embark on a coaching or mentoring programme

• Perhaps consider the possibility of enterprise and setting up their own business or social enterprise

•  Possibility of ‘bartering agreements’ between friends or family members with childcare in light of childcare costs and the government getting rid of child tax assistance with nursery fees, or any other ‘bartering agreements’ as may be relevant.

 I know some of the parents that I work with are still very fearful of computers and especially the internet, however, now is perhaps an opportune time for them to undertake some training to stand them in good stead for the impending changes.

I will be highlighting some income opportunities in the near future that parents or people who self harm can create or take advantage of via the internet or using their computer. Watch this space!

I wish the best for any who might be affected by these proposals in finding the solutions that work best for them.

This article © Jennifer McLeod 2011. All rights reserved

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Jennifer McLeod

I have had a request from BBC  TV regarding filming my Easy Tiger Parents Programmes and in particular following parents progress over a period time, especially parents with teenage children.

Are you a parent with teenage children? If so, read on:

ARE YOU A MUM STRUGGLING WITH A TROUBLESOME TEENAGER?

BBC Three and Renegade Pictures are making a new documentary about motherhood and parenting and we would love to hear from mums who are happy to share their stories.

Have your teenagers fallen in with the wrong crowd?

Do you worry that your kids are listening to their friends rather than to you?

Are you struggling with your teenager’s behaviour?

 If you’re parenting an unruly teen and are interested in finding out more about the programme, please get in touch.

Email: parent@renegadepictures.co.uk. If you do not have access to email you can call: 020 7449 3242. But please note email is preferential at this stage.

Many thanks!

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We are confident about the difference that our Psychology of Self Harm and Behaviour programmes makes to people who self harm and  professionals’ lives and work that we have set up an Affiliate Programme where you also can win!

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