Self Harm
Introduction
The subject of depression and the associated self risk have been gradually but rapidly gaining attention and focus by the public and authorities, as their rates and seriousness increase so quickly. This matter is extremely urgent and most important, since depression has been said to be the greatest disease of the 21st century, just like AIDS was for the 20th century.
So many people all around the world are developing mental problems like depression and anxiety, and one of the symptoms or apparent "solution" to their problems is self harm. Either they choose to slit their wrists or do something similar to ease their pain or even to feel alive by sensing the pain, or they choose to ultimate and fatal option- to commit suicide.
One of so many examples of self harm people cause to themselves is of a 26 year old person, Mr. A, who has Down's syndrome and whose functioning indicated intelligence in the range of mild retardation. He lived with a supportive family and attended a vocational program. He had not history of smoking, nor did he receive any unusual medications. Similarly, he hasn't been through any unusual medical procedures or any surgeries, and his medical history was very ordinary.
In the early stages of his adolescence, he approached non-disabled young women for dates and was continually rejected. In response, he made suicidal statements and gestures, one of which was to burn himself with a cigarette lighter he took from his mother without her knowledge. At the age of 26, after being rejected once again, he jumped from a second story window, but wasn't injured badly. His family reported that he had been agitated and having troubles to sleep in the months previous to the incident, and staff at the vocational program reported agitation and unproductiveness at work. He was sent to a psychological evaluation.
In his apperception test, he described feelings of sadness, tiredness, frustration and hopelessness, with thoughts of suicide. He was referred to psychiatric evaluation, and started psychotherapy sessions, in which he articulated his belief that he wouldn't be able to have a relationship with a woman of his choice due to his having Down's syndrome. He enrolled in social programs for people with mental retardation and hasn't made anymore suicide attempts since. 1