Methods and functions of non-suicidal self-injury in an adolescent and young adult clinical sample

Middle East Current Psychiatry

Table 6 Rate of reported reasons for engaging in minor and moderate/severe non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)

Functions of NSSI	No. of patients	Percentage in%
Automatic-negative reinforcement
Deal with anger	40	80
Cope with uncomfortable feeling	39	78
Relieve stress	36	72
Deal with frustration	34	68
Change emotional pain-physical	27	54
Self-hatred	23	46
Practice suicide	8	16
Attempt suicide	9	18.0
Automatic-positive reinforcement
Self-punish	26	52
Get a rush	13	26
It's an urge	18	36
Feels good	17	34
Like the look	6	12
Social-negative reinforcement
Avoid other harm	23	46
Avoid suicide	21	42
Social-positive reinforcement
Get control over me	29	58
Hurt someone	11	22

Patients endorsed NSSI for several functions. However, Items on the automatic negative reinforcement scales were the most common functions, especially when dealing with anger