

In this study, 77% of the individuals met at least two of the adapted DSM-5 substance use disorder criteria, as indicated by their posts.

The researchers then adapted a set of 11 diagnostic criteria from the DSM-5 used to diagnose substance use disorders to the posts about non-suicidal self-injury, to examine these posts for language indicating symptoms and features of addiction.Ī diagnosis of substance use disorder is made when at least two DSM-5 criteria are met. The investigators sifted through a dataset of 69,380 original posts and 290,524 comments from 38,484 Reddit users on the r/selfharm subforum, which describes itself as “a subreddit for self-harmers to relate to each other, ask questions, and build up a community,” spanning from its creation in March 2010 to December 2019.įrom this dataset, the investigators analyzed posts from 500 random Reddit users who each had left at least 10 posts and comments with a total of at least 2,000 words on the subreddit. To explore this concept further, the research team led by the NIDA Intramural Research Program explored the language that people use to talk about self-harm on Reddit, a social network of online discussion communities organized into hundreds of thousands of “subreddits,” or forums dedicated to specific topics. Though addictive features have been associated with severity of non-suicidal self-injury, there is debate over the extent to which self-injury and substance use disorders are similar experientially. Like substance use disorders, the motivations underlying non-suicidal self-injury are diverse but often include a desire to relieve or cope with feelings of depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health conditions. In the DSM-5, non-suicidal self-injury is identified as a condition for future study.
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However, not enough is known about the drivers and clinical features of self-harming behavior, and there is no standard therapy approach for the condition. “Though this study alone does not demonstrate that self-injury can necessarily be classified as an addiction, learning more about the addictive-like behaviors of self-harm will be crucial to improve our understanding and treatment of this condition.”Īpproximately 17% of adolescents, 13% of young adults, and 6% of adults report a lifetime history of non-suicidal self-injury, or the deliberate harming of one’s body tissue without intending to die. “Non-suicidal self-injury is often private and hidden, and like substance use disorders, is highly stigmatized and can lead to significant harm if left undiagnosed and untreated,” said NIDA Director Nora Volkow, M.D.
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Substance use disorders are diagnosed using evidence-based criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, now in its fifth edition (DSM-5). The findings also suggest that clinicians may better support people living with non-suicidal self-injury by adopting strategies used to diagnose and treat substance use disorders. People who posted on a forum dedicated to discussion of self-harm, called r/selfharm, from 2010 to 2019 often directly referred to their self-injuring activities as an “addiction,” citing cravings and escalating severity or tolerance, and regularly used terms employed by people recovering from substance use disorders, such as getting “clean” or “relapsing.” The study, published in Journal of Behavioral Addictions, was conducted by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of NIH. A large majority of individuals who reported and discussed non-suicidal self-injury on the social media platform Reddit described their experience in terms similar to those used to diagnose substance use disorder, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health, who analyzed more than 350,000 posts and comments.
