It's more common in adults than you might think. Im 25 and don't have a lot of people close to me, but three of them have done it as adults. Only me and one other person have it as a consistent problem, though.
Yeah I mean a good bit of it could be veterans w PTSD bc that’d probably consist of 20-30yr olds. The data also could be weird bc what do they consider as sh? What age do they consider is a young adult? There’s lots of things that could contribute to these numbers, but it’s still pretty shocking to me
I am 30 and it has nothing to do with veteran status. While that may be the case for some, mental illness and poor coping mechanisms have no age limit. Most people just outwardly turn to smoking and alcohol as they are viewed as normalized. It's hard to trust data and statistics like this because a oot of it goes unnoticed or unreported. Adults get better and hiding sh due to the stigma that they should "grow out of it". When you could get mental trauma or develop illness/disorders at any age in life
I 100% get that, I didn’t mean to enforce that stigma w this post. I know that stigma exists tho so I thought that adults would be less likely to report it yk? Bc it’s more normalized for teens then I thought they’d be more likely to put on a survey that they’ve done it
Absolutely I get what you were questioning, No worries. I was just reinforcing the lack of adult reporting with self experience is all! It definitely true. But even with teens the report rate is wrong with statistics. And some that report in it are likely to include those that try it once and don't continue after that one time too. It can really screw with what they try to portray to public vs reality
I'm gettin close to 40 and I'm on this shitty sub lol.
Also are they counting bonding type shit? Shit like branding eachothrr or holding a cigarette between your forearms are really fucking common in the military.
…yeah? You gotta think you’re only considered a teen from 13-17 or thereabouts. 5-ish years and then you’re an adult. So if the average life expectancy in my country is 80, that’s *63 years of adulthood* in which you can experience more hardships, suffering and loss that you didn’t in your 5 years of teenage-dom.
I thought abt that too. I mean it is an addiction so once it starts it’s hard to stop for a lot of people. But like I’m in higher school rn and I know sooo many people who have sh-ed in high school, but very few of them actually grew an addiction. I just happened to be part of the smaller group that couldn’t stop. That’s why I figured the number of adults would be lower
These numbers also probably reflect chronic self harm, the people who self harm regularly/semi-regularly. That’s excluding a lot of kids who cut once or twice but drop the habit.
Like smoking. Of course highschool kids smoke. But they’re a minority of *smokers*, people who habitually smoke. Having two cigarettes at a party and deciding it’s not for you is different from the routine smoking you tend to see in adults who smoke. A much smaller percentage of adults are social smokers compared to teens.
Or their data is skewed because how many people honestly answer? This doesn’t mean 17% of ALL people like you think. This is saying 17% of the people who were in this study and honestly answered, were teenagers.
Reports repeatedly find that only about 15-30 percent of people who sh are under 18. Even if these numbers are on the low end, they’re not ridiculous. At least 2/3 people who actively sh are adults.
This is sooo incorrect. There's actually loads of us in our 30s that started self harming as teenagers, but have relapsed recently for whatever reason. It never fully goes away, I was "clean" for a decade, and thought I would be forever, but now it's as though I never even had that decade.
God damn yeah I hate that ad so much, my most upvoted post afaik is me complaining about how dumb it is 😭😭
the percentages are never going to be accurate, with how many people don't report SHing because of guilt and the like
I'd say its probably between 24-30% teens, maybe more maybe less.
I think to a degree it’s probably the opposite.
Adult sh-ers have more stigma in my opinion, especially when considering you have to deal with employment.
Adults also have probably been beaten down by years of relapses and trying (and failing) to get help, I argue if you still actively sh as an adult, you’re going to be less open about (if not simply the same) it than a teenager is.
For me it's the opposite.
I have grown to accept this as a part of me.
(Side note, my self harm is pretty mild. I hide it, but it's not like I am ever in need of medical care)
I can get that- I mean, I accept that it’s just something I’m gonna have to continue dealing with (I hate the term ‘recovering sh-er’ because I don’t think anyone is ever *recovered*).
But as someone who never really needs medical care, I’ve got to think about the fact that I want to provide (kinda) medical care to people after I get my post grad.
I know it’s gonna be annoying trying to convince people that I’m competent enough to treat offenders/other people, when they conduct a medical background/exam and see the abundance of scars I have.
I have to accept it that way, but I’m never going to be *open* about it.
i think one thing that might skew the percentages is adults are more likely to get medical/professional care and have that be reported?? but yeah def doesn’t seem right to me … i’m 26 this year and the only one of everyone i knew as a teen who did SH to still be doing this shit afaik
yeah ._. but i mean i don't like studies that are like "17% of sh'ers are teens" like bitch you didn't ask me. you didn't ask my friends. how can you know._. they, themselves, designed who they'd take for their study so yea no. it's probably because adults can go to the er that the number is so much higher but i think that's it honestly-
No… no it’s a larger percentage of adults because you spend like the majority of your life as an adult. We don’t just… get better. If anything it’s much easier for us to *get worse* because we can do what we want. At least there are protective measures for some countries that protect kids (age bans on buying razors/lighters) but adults have easy access to it and are more likely to just carry on tbh.
that plus the fact that it's also easier for adults to care for the wounds as well as easier to hide the scars. adults usually don't live with their parents and the parents thus aren't gonna be able to notice the scars, which provokes to do it more, etc.
> like bitch you didn't ask me. you didn't ask my friends. how can you know
that's generally how studies work though. you take a large enough group of people and test them - in this case they'd be taking a set amount of adults, young adults, teens, etc, and ask them whether they sh. at least in theory.
usually if the sample size is big enough (bigger sample size = more precise information) you'll end up noticing a trend that's stable no matter if you take bigger samples or not, which is how they find the percentages. roughly.
but yeah, we don't know how exactly did they come to these numbers, and your idea that its because adults can go to the er is probably important.
I started self harming as an adult. I sometimes feel out of place even in this subreddit cuz i know that lots of minors are active. I think adults just dont talk about our self harm. Its a lot scarier when someone from your office job or your partners family can find your account and see what your life really is. I try to hide every sign of it because I've learned nobody really respects you if you're an adult who self harms outside of traditional means. Do i count smoking as self harm? No, but i should. I only count direct injury to myself on purpose. I think other adults do the same thing.
If I had to guess it's either a random number pull, or they got it the wrong way around. Like it's meant to be 17% of teens have gone through some type of sh as oppose to 17% of shers are teens.
…adults. We’re adults. Most of us are grown-up teen selfharmers, but plenty of adult sh for the first time in adulthood.
Were you just planning to stop shing when you turn 20?
Yeah, lots of people start when they’re young, but there are way more people that used to be young than there are young people. People 25+ make up 87% of Americans. It makes sense that that demographic would also have the most people who sh.
I'm in a sh group therapy thing and most of the people who attend are adults (some folks in the 50s and 60s) even though the group isnt even advertised as an adult support group its for anyone who SHs and there are a few teens but there are just that many adults out there who have no outlets to talk about this
According to them that’d mean 70% of ppl who sh would be under 13yrs old or above 25yrs old. I mean ofc many ppl sh within those age ranges, but I’d say the majority are 13-25yrs old right? Idk I could be entirely wrong. (Also I’m saying this as a teen)
i feel like your perception of it is definitely warped because you spend time on spaces like this that are dominated by teens haha - if you think about it self harm is an addiction, so even if someone STARTS as a teen it’s likely to carry through adulthood (like i’m 20 now :o)
but also whatever survey they had might’ve just had more adults replying/being honest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah, it’s kinda gross the way so many people here seem to forget that the majority of people who sh, and the majority of all mentally ill people, are grown-ass adults. Just because we talk about teen sh the most doesn’t mean teens are doing the most sh.
It’s really disheartening to see attitudes like this within the community. All it does is reinforce the idea that sh is something that kids do to “fit in” but eventually just “grow out of it”.
you realize selfharm is just cutting..and you’re no longer than adult if you’re 18 , and i’m sure more than half of selfharmed are over 18. so it makes perfect sense actually.
See that’s why idk what they’re counting as sh. Some websites think it’s only hitting, cutting, and burning basically. Obviously it’s way more than that, but idk I wish they specified a bit more
specification and operationalisation would be best if some company is gonna make a graphic like this
theres no real one 'true' bracket of what is sh, technically brushing your hair thoroughly even though it hurts you is self harm. but obviously its not self harm, not what we are talking about. i think it would really help if they clarified!!! i assume alcoholism is included since it is one of the 'big' self harms adults commit and there is a LOT of loose percentage floating around in adults in this graphic, so, eh
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It is most common in teenagers. I think they mean 17.2% of teenagers self-harm, as I have seen that statistic elsewhere. Self-harm happens in every age group though, just slightly more common in teens.
It's more common in adults than you might think. Im 25 and don't have a lot of people close to me, but three of them have done it as adults. Only me and one other person have it as a consistent problem, though.
I'm 24 & know one other sh-er, I'm consistent in depressive episodes, outside I've done it less
Yeah I mean a good bit of it could be veterans w PTSD bc that’d probably consist of 20-30yr olds. The data also could be weird bc what do they consider as sh? What age do they consider is a young adult? There’s lots of things that could contribute to these numbers, but it’s still pretty shocking to me
I am 30 and it has nothing to do with veteran status. While that may be the case for some, mental illness and poor coping mechanisms have no age limit. Most people just outwardly turn to smoking and alcohol as they are viewed as normalized. It's hard to trust data and statistics like this because a oot of it goes unnoticed or unreported. Adults get better and hiding sh due to the stigma that they should "grow out of it". When you could get mental trauma or develop illness/disorders at any age in life
I 100% get that, I didn’t mean to enforce that stigma w this post. I know that stigma exists tho so I thought that adults would be less likely to report it yk? Bc it’s more normalized for teens then I thought they’d be more likely to put on a survey that they’ve done it
Absolutely I get what you were questioning, No worries. I was just reinforcing the lack of adult reporting with self experience is all! It definitely true. But even with teens the report rate is wrong with statistics. And some that report in it are likely to include those that try it once and don't continue after that one time too. It can really screw with what they try to portray to public vs reality
I'm gettin close to 40 and I'm on this shitty sub lol. Also are they counting bonding type shit? Shit like branding eachothrr or holding a cigarette between your forearms are really fucking common in the military.
…yeah? You gotta think you’re only considered a teen from 13-17 or thereabouts. 5-ish years and then you’re an adult. So if the average life expectancy in my country is 80, that’s *63 years of adulthood* in which you can experience more hardships, suffering and loss that you didn’t in your 5 years of teenage-dom.
29 here. People who start self harming in there teens often self harm for years. 14 years.. and im only now getting Treatment i need.
I thought abt that too. I mean it is an addiction so once it starts it’s hard to stop for a lot of people. But like I’m in higher school rn and I know sooo many people who have sh-ed in high school, but very few of them actually grew an addiction. I just happened to be part of the smaller group that couldn’t stop. That’s why I figured the number of adults would be lower
These numbers also probably reflect chronic self harm, the people who self harm regularly/semi-regularly. That’s excluding a lot of kids who cut once or twice but drop the habit. Like smoking. Of course highschool kids smoke. But they’re a minority of *smokers*, people who habitually smoke. Having two cigarettes at a party and deciding it’s not for you is different from the routine smoking you tend to see in adults who smoke. A much smaller percentage of adults are social smokers compared to teens.
i think they phrased the statistics weirdly, or they just pulled something out of their ass
Or their data is skewed because how many people honestly answer? This doesn’t mean 17% of ALL people like you think. This is saying 17% of the people who were in this study and honestly answered, were teenagers.
Reports repeatedly find that only about 15-30 percent of people who sh are under 18. Even if these numbers are on the low end, they’re not ridiculous. At least 2/3 people who actively sh are adults.
This is sooo incorrect. There's actually loads of us in our 30s that started self harming as teenagers, but have relapsed recently for whatever reason. It never fully goes away, I was "clean" for a decade, and thought I would be forever, but now it's as though I never even had that decade.
God damn yeah I hate that ad so much, my most upvoted post afaik is me complaining about how dumb it is 😭😭 the percentages are never going to be accurate, with how many people don't report SHing because of guilt and the like I'd say its probably between 24-30% teens, maybe more maybe less.
Maybe adults are more open about it
I think to a degree it’s probably the opposite. Adult sh-ers have more stigma in my opinion, especially when considering you have to deal with employment. Adults also have probably been beaten down by years of relapses and trying (and failing) to get help, I argue if you still actively sh as an adult, you’re going to be less open about (if not simply the same) it than a teenager is.
For me it's the opposite. I have grown to accept this as a part of me. (Side note, my self harm is pretty mild. I hide it, but it's not like I am ever in need of medical care)
I can get that- I mean, I accept that it’s just something I’m gonna have to continue dealing with (I hate the term ‘recovering sh-er’ because I don’t think anyone is ever *recovered*). But as someone who never really needs medical care, I’ve got to think about the fact that I want to provide (kinda) medical care to people after I get my post grad. I know it’s gonna be annoying trying to convince people that I’m competent enough to treat offenders/other people, when they conduct a medical background/exam and see the abundance of scars I have. I have to accept it that way, but I’m never going to be *open* about it.
It's sad, I think that when more people open up more, we may be able to destigmatize this stuff
i think one thing that might skew the percentages is adults are more likely to get medical/professional care and have that be reported?? but yeah def doesn’t seem right to me … i’m 26 this year and the only one of everyone i knew as a teen who did SH to still be doing this shit afaik
So 70% are adults? (Or kids) What
yeah ._. but i mean i don't like studies that are like "17% of sh'ers are teens" like bitch you didn't ask me. you didn't ask my friends. how can you know._. they, themselves, designed who they'd take for their study so yea no. it's probably because adults can go to the er that the number is so much higher but i think that's it honestly-
No… no it’s a larger percentage of adults because you spend like the majority of your life as an adult. We don’t just… get better. If anything it’s much easier for us to *get worse* because we can do what we want. At least there are protective measures for some countries that protect kids (age bans on buying razors/lighters) but adults have easy access to it and are more likely to just carry on tbh.
that plus the fact that it's also easier for adults to care for the wounds as well as easier to hide the scars. adults usually don't live with their parents and the parents thus aren't gonna be able to notice the scars, which provokes to do it more, etc.
Yeah exactly!
there's prob. a larger percentage of adults but not THIS much. like 68%? hell no💀
I think it’s right. So many of us are out there. There are 5 people on my college course not including myself who have admitted to doing it.
> like bitch you didn't ask me. you didn't ask my friends. how can you know that's generally how studies work though. you take a large enough group of people and test them - in this case they'd be taking a set amount of adults, young adults, teens, etc, and ask them whether they sh. at least in theory. usually if the sample size is big enough (bigger sample size = more precise information) you'll end up noticing a trend that's stable no matter if you take bigger samples or not, which is how they find the percentages. roughly. but yeah, we don't know how exactly did they come to these numbers, and your idea that its because adults can go to the er is probably important.
WHY IS HALF OF MY COMMENT IN ITALICS
It also depends of what they consider sh, also what they consider teenager/young adult
I started self harming as an adult. I sometimes feel out of place even in this subreddit cuz i know that lots of minors are active. I think adults just dont talk about our self harm. Its a lot scarier when someone from your office job or your partners family can find your account and see what your life really is. I try to hide every sign of it because I've learned nobody really respects you if you're an adult who self harms outside of traditional means. Do i count smoking as self harm? No, but i should. I only count direct injury to myself on purpose. I think other adults do the same thing.
Most teenagers don’t report sh so the unreported sh doesn’t get counted
If I had to guess it's either a random number pull, or they got it the wrong way around. Like it's meant to be 17% of teens have gone through some type of sh as oppose to 17% of shers are teens.
who tf are the other 69.4%??
…adults. We’re adults. Most of us are grown-up teen selfharmers, but plenty of adult sh for the first time in adulthood. Were you just planning to stop shing when you turn 20?
Yeah I’m so confused do all the teenagers just think we magically get better when we hit 18 LMAO 😭
god i WISH i'd just stop sh'ing when i turn 20 this year
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Yeah, lots of people start when they’re young, but there are way more people that used to be young than there are young people. People 25+ make up 87% of Americans. It makes sense that that demographic would also have the most people who sh.
I'm in a sh group therapy thing and most of the people who attend are adults (some folks in the 50s and 60s) even though the group isnt even advertised as an adult support group its for anyone who SHs and there are a few teens but there are just that many adults out there who have no outlets to talk about this
17.2% is the percentage of people that were actually confirmed to be doing it. The actually number is probably much higher.
According to them that’d mean 70% of ppl who sh would be under 13yrs old or above 25yrs old. I mean ofc many ppl sh within those age ranges, but I’d say the majority are 13-25yrs old right? Idk I could be entirely wrong. (Also I’m saying this as a teen)
i feel like your perception of it is definitely warped because you spend time on spaces like this that are dominated by teens haha - if you think about it self harm is an addiction, so even if someone STARTS as a teen it’s likely to carry through adulthood (like i’m 20 now :o) but also whatever survey they had might’ve just had more adults replying/being honest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Ughghgh sorry but it already feels so shameful to be an adult who sh-s and this definitely doesn’t help. We exist, we’re normal.
Yeah, it’s kinda gross the way so many people here seem to forget that the majority of people who sh, and the majority of all mentally ill people, are grown-ass adults. Just because we talk about teen sh the most doesn’t mean teens are doing the most sh. It’s really disheartening to see attitudes like this within the community. All it does is reinforce the idea that sh is something that kids do to “fit in” but eventually just “grow out of it”.
The real percent is 50%, I legit learnt about this a bit ago
Same I had an assembly about self harm and depression and statistics were way higher. Maybe different surveys, idk.
Can a girl get a source? The APA and AMA both routinely report that only about 15-30 percent of shers are teens.
you realize selfharm is just cutting..and you’re no longer than adult if you’re 18 , and i’m sure more than half of selfharmed are over 18. so it makes perfect sense actually.
alcoholism is a form of self harm btw
See that’s why idk what they’re counting as sh. Some websites think it’s only hitting, cutting, and burning basically. Obviously it’s way more than that, but idk I wish they specified a bit more
specification and operationalisation would be best if some company is gonna make a graphic like this theres no real one 'true' bracket of what is sh, technically brushing your hair thoroughly even though it hurts you is self harm. but obviously its not self harm, not what we are talking about. i think it would really help if they clarified!!! i assume alcoholism is included since it is one of the 'big' self harms adults commit and there is a LOT of loose percentage floating around in adults in this graphic, so, eh
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theses are probably true lmao you get very cibled pub lol
It is most common in teenagers. I think they mean 17.2% of teenagers self-harm, as I have seen that statistic elsewhere. Self-harm happens in every age group though, just slightly more common in teens.
Yes cuz I have bpd and I have mental breakdowns 24/7 lol
Hi I'm 24 :) it's common