Introduction
Non-suicidal self-injury disorder occurs as one of the widely discussed disorders whose cause has and continues to elicit varied reactions from various contexts. While much has been hypothesized regarding non-suicidal self-injury disorder, it is of the essence to note that it mainly connotes to several deliberate, self-directed actions, which result in direct harm to the body tissues (Gholamrezaei et al., 2015). In most cases, non-suicidal self-injury disorder actions may not present with any suicidal intent. The most interesting factor about non-suicidal self-injury disorder aligns with the existence of various misconceptions about the disorder. One of the most pertinent myth is that non-suicidal self-injury disorder is a problem of the people of female gender or girls. Besides, there exists a myth asserting that all actions associated with non-suicidal self-injury disorder depict the existence of suicidal intent. Despite the existence of myths about non-suicidal self-injury disorder, there exist scientific evidence addressing various issues related to the disorder.
Trends and Barriers
With regards to the interesting misconception that females are more susceptible to the disorder, Gholamrezaei et al. (2015) note that there only exists differences in the non-suicidal self-injury disorder actions that both genders engage in. As an example, females have a higher tendency to engage in scratching and cutting behaviors. On the contrary, males engage in head-banging, burning, and self-hitting behaviors. Overall, various epidemiological studies indicate that teenagers are more prone to non-suicidal self-injury disorder, especially college students, where rates of the disorder range from 17% to 35%.
An analysis of various states depicts that there exist no legislations governing issues related to non-suicidal self-injury disorder. The provision of dental care for persons with non-suicidal self-injury disorder is seldom affected due to the absence of such legislations. However, there is a need to comprehend with the fact that dental care may be affected if individuals engage in non-suicidal self-injury disorder actions that have an impact on dental treatment options.
Epidemiology
A reflection on existing epidemiological statistics indicates the existence of differences in the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury disorder across various population segments. According to a study by Gholamrezaei et al. (2015), the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury disorder amongst adolescents in Europe, North America, and Australia ranges from 13.9% to 35.6%. The same study indicates that the prevalence of the disorder amongst adults in the mentioned regions fluctuates from 5.9% to 23%.
Etiology
There are several factors associated with the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury disorder. More importantly, psychiatric disorders are closely linked with the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury disorder. Evidence from an array of researches indicates that there is a high rate of self-inflicted injury amongst persons with psychiatric disorders (Glenn & Klonsky, 2015). Precisely, close to 20% of the psychiatric individuals engage in non-suicidal self-injury. As previously connoted herein, teenagers remain more prone to the disorder. This is also the case amongst psychiatric teens whereby there are high prevalence rates of 40% t0 80% of non-suicidal self-injury amongst them. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) occurs as an eminent psychiatric disorder that elicits the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury. 70% to 75% of persons diagnosed with BPD have an increased rate of self-inflicted injury. This is perhaps the major reason as to why self-inflicted injury has been used as a means of diagnosing BPD. Other psychiatric disorder that precipitates the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury disorder are major depressive disorders, eating disorders, and dissociative disorders.
Apart from psychiatric disorders, there are other factors that cause non-suicidal self-injury disorder. Drug abuse and alcoholism are amongst individual behavior factors that elicit the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury disorder. In most cases, people who engage in actions aligned with self-inflicted injury often do so under the influence of drugs and alcohol. On another note, poor parenting has been identified as a predictor of non-suicidal self-injury disorder. Children who experience poor maternal care during infancy are more likely to engage in self-inflicted injury actions (Johnstone et al., 2015).
Pathophysical Considerations
Different researches point to the fact that the pathogenesis of non-suicidal self-injury is greatly attributed to endogenous opioids. For this reason, pathophysical considerations utilized in the management of non-suicidal self-injury disorder should focus on the use of opioid antagonist. Notable is the fact that opioid antagonist enhances the management of non-suicidal self-injury disorder because it alters pain sensitivity during episodes when an individual experiences non-suicidal self-injury disorder. Despite the fact that non-suicidal self-injury disorder are not closely linked with suicidal attempts, it is of the essence to realize the fact that non-suicidal self-injury and suicide have a common biology. On a similar note, endogenous opioids are also involved in the pathophysiology of suicidal behaviors. Overall, treatment modalities should dwell on the use of opioid antagonists.
Role of Dental Hygienist
Treatment modalities for non-suicidal self-injury disorder should be performed by a comprehensive health care team. The health care team members provide a viable means through which various etiological factors related to non-suicidal self-injury disorder can be addressed. Often connoted as the inter-disciplinary team, the health care team members comprise of various personally including the physician, social worker, psychiatrist and dental personnel. Ethical considerations when offering care and management for persons with non-suicidal self-injury disorder should focus on ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality.
Conclusions
References
Gholamrezaei, M., De Stefano, J., & Heath, N. (2015). Non-Suicidal Self-Injury across Cultures and Ethnic and Racial Minorities: a Review. International Journal of Psychology, 1-11.
Glenn, C., & Klonsky, D. (2015). Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Disorder: an Empirical Investigation in Adolescent Psychiatric Patients. Journal of Clinical Child Adolescent Psychology, 42(4), 496-507.
Johnstone, J., Carter, J., Luty, S., Mulder, R., Frampton, C., & Joyce, P. (2015). Childhood Predictors of Lifetime Suicide attempts and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Depressed Adults. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 1-10.
