Recent presentations of SASH findings

Last month I did a ‘webinar’ (or online seminar) for WithScotland, to share some of the findings from the SASH project. People who listened in at the time were mainly practitioners, working directly with young people who have self-harmed: in clinical practice, in prisons, and as social workers. It was a great opportunity, and shows that among many practitioners there is a real desire to listen to young people, and try to understand self-harm from their perspective.

If you are interested, you can listen (and watch) the presentation here:

http://listenagain.stir.ac.uk/media/keep/withscotland/listenagain.php

You may have to scroll down the box on the right hand side to find the right file.

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I also gave a similar talk to a self-harm awareness meeting in co-hosted by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and East Dunbartonshire council. Slides for the event can be found here: GGC Self-harm event talk_Chandler:

It is really great to see so much activity around increasing awareness and understanding about self-harm in Scotland; and especially good to be able to include young people’s accounts in the conversation.

Initial Findings: Self-harm, drug and alcohol use

Here is the link to the initial findings on self-harm, drug and alcohol use:

SASH – alcohol and drugs preliminary findings

One week to go! Launch of findings and animated film – 31st October

Just one week to go before the launch event which will see the premier of the animated film, based on the findings and made by Yasmin, with support from Jim Stirk of Red Kite Animation Workshops (and now of Animation Jam). Also featuring will be three briefings summarising some of the key findings from the research.

As well as a talk about the findings, Lisa Aitken from Choose Life Renfrewshire will be talking about an educational package about self-harm; and Angela Voulgari from Penumbra will talk about her work with young people who self-harm.

There will be stalls from a number of organisations: Health Opportunities Team, Crew 2000, Penumbra, Circle, Minds Well and Choose Life.

We have 100 people signed up to come along, and a waiting list. Very exciting and I’m really looking forward to sharing the findings, as well as hearing from the other speakers and delegates about their experiences and work.

All of the briefings and the film will be available for free, online, after the 31st. Links to these will of course be on this site and blog also.

Upcoming events featuring the SASH Research Project

Two events coming up featuring findings from the SASH Research Project.

31st October is the launch of the project findings, and the animated film, made by the wonderful Yasmin. The event sold out within a fortnight (100 tickets!) – really looking forward to sharing some of the findings with everyone.

Also speaking at the launch are Angela Voulgari from Penumbra, and Lisa Aitken, Choose Life Renfrewshire.

I’ve been putting the finishing touches to two publications – one a short leaflet which covers some of the headline findings; and another longer briefing which has a lot more detail. These will be published on the 31st and available for all who attend. There will also be extra copies available, and both will be online as well.

24th November is another event where I’ll be talking about some of the findings. This event is aimed at policy-makers and researchers. Also speaking is Naomi Salisbury, of Self-Injury Support (formerly Bristol Crisis Service for Women). The title of my talk is ‘Secrets and Lies: The challenges of ‘just talking to someone’ about self-harm for young people aged 16 and under’.

Registration open for launch event – 31st October

Registration is now open for the launch event on 31st October, 2-5pm at the University of Edinburgh.

Places are limited, so registration is essential.

All welcome, and the event is totally free!

See flyer below for further details, or the click here for link to the eventbrite page where you can register to attend.

SASH flyer – event 31-10-14

 

Boys who self-harm

I’m pulling together some of the findings from the research to add to the animated film; loads of really interesting stuff and I’m looking forward to spending more time in the next couple of months writing about this.

As the film has two main characters who are boys, I’m looking especially at what those who took part in the project have to say about gender and self-harm. Here is a summary:

1. People usually agreed that self-harm was something that girls did more than boys

2. BUT – most people also said that this might be because boys are less likely to tell other people if they do self-harm

Of those who have taken part in the research, most of those who said they had self-harmed were girls. But a lot of them were boys.

5 interviews (2 boys, 3 girls)

89 responses to the survey (58 girls, 23 boys, 6 transgender/genderqueer/genderfluid)

Although the sample in this research is in no way representative, the numbers of boys and girls saying they had self-harmed is pretty similar to what bigger surveys tell us. In the SASH Research Project sample, 26% of survey respondents said they were boys.The most recent data from Scotland found that 23% of all those saying they had self-harmed were boys. An older study from England found 25% of people who said they self-harmed were boys. Definitely more girls than boys are saying they have self-harmed, but still a significant proportion are boys. However, read any article in the news about self-harm, and you are likely to get the idea that self-harm is mainly a ‘girl thing’. The news features almost always talk to a girl who has self-harmed, and highlight that far more girls than boys self-harm.

But, here is what Aaron, one of the SASH participants, had to say:

“Boys don’t talk about it, or show it much, like, or are as open to, like, self harm.  They won’t tell anyone or show anyone.  They’ll deny it if they’re asked”

I’m going to be looking more at whether or not boys and girls have said different things in their interviews and survey responses. More soon.

Animation workshops 2014!

Very exciting news! The SASH Research Project has been awarded an Innovation Initiative Grant from the University of Edinburgh Development Trust. This means that in 2014 we’ll be working with Red Kite Studios and some volunteers to develop a short animated film based around findings from the project. The film will help us to reach lots more people, and let them know what young people in Scotland think about self-harm.

More details to follow in the New Year – including how to get involved!