Self-harm in young people is on the rise. In England, one in four girls and one in ten boys aged 16 to 24 have engaged in self-harm, damaging their own body without the intention to end their lives. The primary reason is to help cope with intense and unwanted emotions. Self-harm behaviour can become repetitive for some young people, and we need to know more about what’s influencing a person’s in-the-moment decision-making. Through this study, we found that when urge is high, an individual’s mind becomes pre-occupied with imagining the actions, bodily sensations, and emotional benefits of self-harm. Given we know that imagining future events can motivate and guide our actions, this also suggests mental imagery may be harnessed to help young people develop alternative coping strategies.
Julie Ji
Lecturer in Psychology
- The full study – Ji et al: Picturing self-harm: Investigating flash-forward mental imagery as a proximal and modifiable driver of non-suicidal self-injury – is published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour, DOI: 10.1111/sltb.13081.
About the School of Psychology
Read more about research and activities in the School of Psychology
The study is the first attempt to track real-time occurrences of mental imagining of self-harm and how it relates to short-term fluctuations in risk
-
Study suggests real-time feedback in hotel showers could help the tourism industry cut water use
The University is among those involved in a trial of smart technologies that can provide holiday makers with consumer messages
-
£1.2 million project explores whether brain state alters the effects of ultrasound
The four-year initiative is being led by researchers from the University of Plymouth’s Brain Research and Imaging Centre
-
University showcases ideas and expertise at South West Innovation Expo
Up to 600 people - including researchers, businesses and funding bodies - are expected to attend the annual event
-
New research underlines need to be aware of loot box risks
Experts conduct the largest and most robust surveys yet exploring the video game components
- More related news
Additional advice and support
- If you are a student at the University and have been affected by any of the issues highlighted within this article, please visit the
Student Wellbeing Services page on our website. - If you are a member of staff at the University and have been affected by any of the issues highlighted within this article, please visit the Employee Assistance Programme pages on SharePoint (login required).