The Psychology of Self-Injury: Exploring Self-Harm & Mental Health26 Jun

The Neurobiology of Self-Injury (in Layman's Terms) [Re-Release]

What goes on at the neurobiological level that makes someone more vulnerable to self-injure or self-harm? What biological risk factors are at play? What roles do the vagus nerve, cortisol levels, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have? We hope to discuss the psychology of self-injury pain in a future episode, but in this episode, Dr. Michael Kaess from the University of Bern in Switzerland explains the neurobiology of self-injury in simple terms, or what we hope can be considered simple layman's terms.

Learn more about Dr. Kaess and his research team at the Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste (UPD) in Bern here. To participate in Dr. Kaess' research study of an online intervention for self-injury (in German), visit the STAR (Self-injury Treatment Assessment Recovery) Project at https://star-projekt.de/.

Below are links to some of the research referenced in this episode:

Kaess, M., Hooley, J. M., Klimes-Dougan, B., Koenig, J., Plener, P. L., Reichl, C., Robinson, K., Schmahl, C., Sicorello, M., Schreiner, M. W., & Cullen, K. R. (2021). Advancing a temporal framework for understanding the biology of nonsuicidal self-injury: An expert review. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 130, 228-239.
Reichl, C., Heyer, A., Brunner, R., Parzer, P., Völker, J. M., Resch, R., & Kaess, M. (2016). Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, childhood adversity and adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 74, 203-211.
Plener, P. L., Bubalo, N., Fladung, A. K., Ludolph, A. G., & Lulé, D. (2012). Prone to excitement: Adolescent females with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) show altered cortical pattern to emotional and NSS-related material. Psychiatry Research, 203(2-3), 146-152.

Follow Dr. Westers on Instagram @DocWesters. To join ISSS, visit itriples.org and follow ISSS on Facebook and X/Twitter (@ITripleS).

The Psychology of Self-Injury podcast has been rated #5 by Feedspot in their "Best 20 Clinical Psychology Podcasts" and by Welp Magazine in their "20 Best Injury Podcasts."

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Episoder(77)

Can Imagery Help Reduce Self-Harm?, with Dr. Nicholas Westers

Mental imagery refers to sensory processing in the absence of sensory stimuli, and this can be through our visual senses or our senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Below are links to some of t...

21 Sep 1h

Lived Experience: Brittany's Story of Self-Injury & Faith (Re-Release)

In this episode, Brittany details her experience of engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), how it started, and how she makes sense of self-injury and her faith in God. She explains two starkly di...

28 Aug 1h 6min

The Psychology of Self-Injury Pain (Re-Release)

What is the relationship between nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and pain? Are individuals who self-injure less sensitive to pain than those who don’t self-injure? What are the ethics involved in condu...

31 Jul 1h 5min

The Psychology of Self-Injury Scarring (Re-Release)

How are scars from nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) different than physical scars that are unintentional or result from non-self-inflicted wounds ? What psychological effects can result from daily remin...

29 Mai 43min

Eating Disorders & Self-Harm (Re-Release)

The term "self-harm" is an umbrella term, encompassing a broad range of behaviors, under which is included substance abuse and misuse, suicide, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), and even eating disorder...

28 Apr 38min

Emotion Regulation Individual Therapy for Adolescents (ERITA) Who Self-Harm (Re-Release)

Emotion Regulation Individual Therapy for Adolescents (ERITA) and its internet-delivered version (IERITA) is just one of a couple of treatments developed specifically to address nonsuicidal self-injur...

27 Mar 1h 13min

Emotion Regulation Group Therapy (ERGT) for Self-Harm (Re-Release)

A lot of therapies address the context in which nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and self-harm may occur, but only a few treatments have been designed to address NSSI specifically. In this episode, we d...

27 Feb 1h 40min