What are self-injuries and why do they occur?
We have already seen that there is a more than evident correlation between the use of certain social networks and the mental health of their users, but there is an even more revealing piece of information that has recently appeared in different media and that is the significant increase in cases of self-injury among preadolescent children and adolescents. There is, therefore, clear evidence that self-injury is an emerging behaviour linked to the use of certain social networks.
Self-injury is the act of deliberately harming the body as a response to emotional pain, in such a way that the self-inflicted physical harm momentarily compensates for the person's anger or frustration.
What relationship exists between self-harm and the use of social networks?
The Vithas Medimar hospital in Alicante has confirmed that the incidents of self-harm are an emerging pattern associated with the use of social networks with adolescents to the point that in the last recent months, it has become the most touched upon topic in the therapeutic field. Psychologist Tamara Pascual, from PsicoActúa, the Psychology and Medicine department of the Vithas Medimar hospital, explained that “this incident existed years ago due to the rise in the use of social networks, internet etc. that has caused minors to be visible to countless people, content and behaviours without knowing the manner in which to confront that new information or the social relationships beyond that of the screen”.
What is hidden from the self-harm incidents in adolescents?
Self-harm hides a bad reputation of emotionally dealing with anxiety, stress or conflictive situations. “What they express when they experience harm is a clear message for help, that something is not going well and they use self-harm to destress. In doing so, they feel an emotional alleviation due to the body releasing endorphins and a series of hormones that minimise the physical pain. It lasts little time, but that small physical alleviation is what allows them to continue pursuing their social addiction.
“Look what I did to myself” in Instagram
Despite the fact that from February 2019, after the suicide of a minor in the U.K, Instagram has been made aware of this problem and has implemented tools that detect situations that conclude in self-harm or even suicide, users continue to find
a dissemination channel for this type of content on this social network. Jacobo Picardo’s team, from the University of New Zealand, has reviewed the researched published over the past 10 years on suicide and self-harm in Instagram. Since the beginning of 2020, 10 studies have been published on this subject that showed that this platform was a popular site for posting content about self-harm, with depictions of cuts, usually on the arms or legs. Instagram users who post self-harm content use ambiguous hashtags in an effort to circumvent Instagrams ban on spreading harmful content.
Picardo warns that online communities have been born oriented around these hashtags to allow users interested by the topics pertaining to self-harm or suicide to converse online. “Instagrams ability to flag this type of content is limited because the hashtags used in these posts evolve faster than the maximum speed at which they can be tracked and evaluated by content moderators of the platform” Instagram is looking into new technologies, such as the use of artificial intelligence algorithms, for the more readily prepared automatic recognition of suspicious images which would be of great help in identifying this type of behaviour. However, as Picardo points out, there is a lack of consensus on the best way to confront and deal with this content. “In general, content relating to self-harm in Instagram receives a high volume of audience participation and attention”.From the “call” effect to the “snowball” effect
Although the most common reaction of Instagram users that suspect
another user of trying to commit suicide, is to try and stop them from doing so, results from some research raise concerns that some people that view the material published by the person planning to commit suicide are negatively psychologically impacted. There is a risk that such content may provoke others to self-harm, as well as perpetuate such behaviour by normalising and validating it and by sharing methods of self-harm and advice on how to conceal it. On the other hand, taking into account the nature of these platforms where challenges become contagious and dynamic at an extraordinary speed, there is also the possibility of taking this imitation a step further and treat it as if it were a challenge to raise awareness of this issue.Can social networks adopt another role?
Social networks, far from becoming enemies of the health of minors, should strive to fulfil the opposite function. Put simply, to be a tool that allows parents to be closer to their children when their physical or mental health is at risk in order to help them overcome that moment. This is precisely one of key pillars on which we built ēllu on, in an attempt to bring forth a social network generated of trust where more than contacts or “friends”, it is made up of people who truly care about other people. In doing so, providing privacy along with the fun that other social networks offer and, at the same time, security and protection of those we care about the most.
