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Self-mutilating behaviour of psychiatric inpatients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

H.L.I. Nijman ,
M. Dautzenberg ,
H.L.G.J. Merckelbach ,
P. Jung ,
I. Wessel  and
J. à Campo
H.L.I. Nijman
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Hospital Welterhof, Heerlen, P.O. Box 4436, 6401 CX Heerlen, The Netherlands Department of Psychology, Maastricht University Maastricht, The Netherlands
M. Dautzenberg
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Hospital Welterhof, Heerlen, P.O. Box 4436, 6401 CX Heerlen, The Netherlands
H.L.G.J. Merckelbach
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Maastricht University Maastricht, The Netherlands
P. Jung
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Hospital Welterhof, Heerlen, P.O. Box 4436, 6401 CX Heerlen, The Netherlands
I. Wessel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Maastricht University Maastricht, The Netherlands
J. à Campo
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Hospital Welterhof, Heerlen, P.O. Box 4436, 6401 CX Heerlen, The Netherlands
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Summary

In the present study two broad hypotheses about the origins of self-mutilation in psychiatric patients were evaluated. The first hypothesis states that self-mutilation originates from child abuse and experiences of neglect and is connected to dissociation in later life. The second hypothesis views self-mutilation as the consequence of impulse control problems. To test these two hypotheses, data concerning traumatic childhood experiences and dissociative symptoms (hypothesis 1), as well as data concerning aggressiveness, obsessive-compulsiveness and sensation seeking (hypothesis 2) were collected in a sample of 54 psychiatric inpatients. Twenty-four out of 54 patients (44%) reported having engaged in self-mutilation. Mean age of onset of this behaviour was 23 years. Self-report measures of self-mutilators were more in line with the first than with the second hypothesis. That is, patients who engaged in self-mutilation reported more traumatic childhood experiences and dissociative symptoms than did control patients. The two groups did not differ in terms of aggressiveness, obsessive-compulsiveness, and sensation seeking. In line with earlier studies, the current results indicate that self-mutilating behaviour is linked to a history of abuse and neglect.

Keywords

self-mutilationimpulsivitychildhood traumadissociation
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 4 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1999

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