Abstract
Background
Self-harm usually begins during adolescence and adolescents that self-harm most commonly confide in friends, yet to date, there is little research from the friend’s perspective.
Objective
This qualitative study explores adolescents’ experiences of what it is like to have a friend who self-harms by cutting and what this experience means for friendship, the wider peer group and psychological well-being.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with a community sample of eight females aged between 13 and 18 years, living in England. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data.
Results
Four superordinate themes emerged: desperately searching for meaning, I will be there at all costs, too hot to handle and identification. Adolescents were concerned about escalations in their friends’ behaviours and felt a sense of duty to help, but the majority experienced a dilemma as to whether to disclose to others and all reported some form of distress.
Conclusions
The results highlight the important, yet complex nature of friendship in this context. Friends play a key role in supporting adolescents who self-harm but need greater support managing this role and the effects. Schools/colleges should educate young people about self-harm to increase their knowledge and skills in relation to supporting a friend with this issue. Furthermore, they should promote environments for talking about mental health openly to give young people increased opportunities for help-seeking.