Correlacionando fatores ambientais e o comportamento de autolesão

Abstract

Self-injury has been defined as any intentional behavior that involves direct aggression to the body itself without conscious intention of suicide. Self-injurious behavior has a major impact on the life of the individual and society, including family members, co-workers and students. The objective of the present study is to carry out a survey to identify possible correlations between characteristics of this type of behavior and situations that may influence its occurrence and / or severity. For this purpose, we carry out an online survey, without identifying the participants in which the topography will be investigated. prevalence, frequency, antecedents and reinforcers of self- injurious behavior, as well as the function of each individual's self-injurious response. This study was based on the survey method for data collection. To this end, a virtual public consultation was carried out, disseminated through social networks: Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram, in which the respondents were not identified. The questionnaire, containing 29 questions, was prepared by the researcher herself through the Google Forms Online platform without the purpose of instrument validation, but only to obtain information about the phenomenon in the investigated population sample. The terms used in the questionnaire were borrowed from relevant studies that previously described the phenomenon. 42 (forty-two) participants over the age of 18 took part in this research, 35 of whom were female and 07 were male, who voluntarily and anonymously volunteered to answer the questionnaire. Family conflicts associated with a chaotic family environment were presented as the main aversive events that stimulated self-harm behavior. With the engagement in self-injurious behavior, aversive stimuli were removed from the environment, therefore, the removal of these stimuli causes an increase in the probability that in the future, the response to self-injure will happen again, that is, the self-injury is maintained by negative reinforcement. There was no significant association of alcohol or drug abuse during episodes of self-harm, however, it was observed that those who were under the influence of these substances were less sensitive to pain, therefore, the consumption of alcohol or drugs is an important factor of risk for self-injurious behavior. When performing a correlation between self-injury and suicidal ideation, it was observed that those who were involved in self-injury became more vulnerable to suicidal ideation, given that, in general, people fear and try to avoid injuries, especially those that can result in death. Thus, acquiring suicide capacity implies overcoming fear and pain, in this case, self-injury represents a significant risk factor, because in addition to being associated with intense suffering that in itself already increases the suicidal desire, it still desensitizes individuals to pain, thus increasing the individual's ability to act on the desire to attempt suicide.