STUDIES SHOW TEENAGERS ARE SELF HARMING AT A RATE OF 1 IN 12

I’d like to bring your attention to a programme I’ve just watched on self harm.  ITV’s “This Morning” featured a teenager who had suffered from bullying then followed on from self harming by also becoming anorexic. “This Morning” quoted statistics published in March 2006 which show 1 in 12 teenagers are self harming on a regular basis.

The girl being interviewed said the act of self harm relieved the tension that she was feeling inside from the pressures and stresses she was up against at school and in her family life.  She also said that because she cut, she felt the release of the tension.  However, she would then feel guilty that she was not living up to her parent’s expectations of being a good daughter.   So the need for punishment came again and the cycle continued.  Among feeling the release of tension and stress, she said she wanted to feel calm and the need to communicate openly as a family was what she also said would have helped.  However, not questions like why are you cutting yourself, but instead, what’s upsetting you would have helped her more towards getting to the underlying problem.

The therapist on the programme suggested that a substitute, ie a more realistic coping technique be encouraged.  Different things work for different people, so whether it’s eg going to the gym to release the tension, having therapy such as cognitive behaviour therapy, or having a treatment which naturally encourages the body to release the stresses, tension, and bring calmness to the mind and body and help it find it’s balance, there are other options available to support these teenagers who are struggling.

Reiki can be incredibly effective for encouraging release, reducing stress, providing peace and calm, reducing pain, giving confidence, raising self-esteem, bringing balance into the mind and body and overall allowing the person to naturally deal with and heal from whatever it is they are finding difficult to deal with.

This article is not intended to worry people, but to raise people’s awareness of this problem and what teenagers and children are up against, and if they aren’t able to deal with the problems what they will carry forward with them into later life.  It is intended to encourage communication and also to provide awareness that Reiki treatments can offer respite for people struggling in many different ways.  We are all up against pressures, but we can support ourselves if we only allow ourselves the time and space for natural self care.  Here’s what some of my clients have said following Reiki treatments:

·         “My panic attacks have stopped”

  ·         “I feel more able to cope with day-to-day pressures”

  ·         “I’m less anxious”

  ·         “I’m sleeping better”

  ·         “I’m feeling more confident”

  ·         “I feel I have more energy”

  ·         “I am more rational”

 Please share this with anyone else you think may be interested by forwarding the link to this page.