Self-harm and the positive risk taking approach. Can being able to think about the possibility of harm reduce the frequency of actual harm?

Abstract

Background: This article presents the results of an audit of self-harming across three women's units over a period of 6 years. All three units use a positive risk-taking approach to self-harm whereby the risk that this behaviour presents is considered in an effort to reduce actual harm.

Aims: To explore patterns and frequency of self-harm across three units within a women's service.

Method: Incidents of deliberate self-harm were collected from incident forms completed across the units from 2004 to 2009.

Results: Frequency graphs show a reduction of self-harm over the course of admission, and parametric analyses show that there was a significant difference in the frequency of self-harm during the first and last 3 months of admission.

Conclusions: These results are discussed within a psychoanalytical framework, with particular reference to relational security and the value of positive risk-taking.