Health
Study Finds many Graphic youtube Self-harm Videos
By lindsey tanner
AP Medical writer
CHICAGo (AP) — YouTube videos on cutting and other
self-injury methods are an alarming new trend, attract mil-
lions of hits and could serve as a how-to for troubled view-
ers, a study warns.
Many videos show bloody live enactments or graphic
photos of people cutting their arms or legs with razors or
other sharp objects, the study found. Many also glamorize
self-injury and few videos
discourage it, the study
authors said.
They also feature haunting
music and rich imagery that
may attract young self-injur-
ers and trigger the behavior,
especially in those who have
just started to self-injure, the
authors suggest.
Canadian
psychologist
Stephen Lewis, a study co-author, said he found more than
5,000 YouTube videos on self-injury. The study focused on
100 videos the authors found in December 2009. Their
analysis was published online Monday in Pediatrics.
The 100 videos were viewed more than 2 million times
and generated many online comments.
Parents and mental health professionals should be aware
of the YouTube postings and that the videos might be per-
petuating the problem, said Lewis, an assistant professor at
the University of Guelph in Ontario.
The study’s authors also recommended that YouTube pro-
vide helpful resources or links when people enter search
terms for “self-injury.” A company spokeswoman said
YouTube is looking into the feasibility of the suggestion.
She said the site has policies against graphic content and
content that encourages dangerous activities. It relies on
viewers to flag questionable videos, and a YouTube team
reviews and removes those in violation of those policies.
Self-injury videos are among those that have been removed.
Self-injury is most common among young people.
Between 14 percent and 24 percent of teens and young
adults have engaged in self-injury at least once, Lewis said.
Cutting is among the most common methods.
Psychologist Tracy Knight, an associate professor at
Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill., is interviewed
in a documentary-style YouTube video about cutting that
has been viewed more than 14,000 times and generated
more than 80 comments.
Knight said the video was done by a student and he did-
n’t know it was on YouTube. The video’s opening scenes
include a young woman poking a sharp tool into her leg.
Knight said such videos may inadvertently trigger self-
harm, but that YouTube also
can serve a benefit by taking
self-injury out of the closet
and into the public realm.
“It makes it open for social
discussion . . . in a way that
was not possible when it was
secret,” he said.
Lewis said therapists who
treat self-injurers should con-
sider asking their patients if
they watch these videos and counsel them about possible
effects. Parents, too, should be aware that kids may be
watching the videos and discuss the issue with them, he
said.
Many videos show bloody live
enactments or graphic photos
of people cutting their arms or
legs with razors or other sharp
objects
Self-injurers typically are struggling with feelings of
anger, sadness, depression or other emotional troubles, and
usually don’t cut deep enough to cause major harm, said
Barent Walsh, a therapist and author of a book on self-
injury treatment.
The study’s authors also
recommended that YouTube
provide helpful resources or
links when people enter search
terms for ‘self-injury’
Self-injuring “is oddly effective in reducing emotional
distress” in people who have poor coping skills, Walsh said.
He said it’s well-known that photos and websites about
self-injury can trigger the behavior in people who already
self-injure or who are tempted to do it. But he said the study
results are important and raise concerns that YouTube “may
well be the most powerful influence of them all because of
its nature.”
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February 23, 2011 The Portland Skanner Page 7