Young adults’ accounts of recovery from youth non-suicidal self-injury: An interpretive phenomenological analysis

Non-suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI), defined as an intentional act of self-harm or injury, without the intent to die, is a mental health issue with concerningly high prevalence rates and associated negative clinical outcomes for youth, internationally and in Canada. Several theoretical explanations and treatment protocols for NSSI exist and have been the subject of research over the past few decades. According to recent meta-analyses, current available specialized NSSI treatment approaches have only modest success in reliably and consistently facilitating recovery for youth who engage in NSSI. There is currently a need for a more nuanced and workable understanding of the mechanisms and factors that facilitate recovery from adolescent NSSI. This study intended to add to the growing body of phenomenological inquiry into recovery from NSSI, and examined, through in-depth personal accounts, the effective mechanism of change involved in recovery from youth NSSI. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, a qualitative method, with established precedence studying personal meaning making of accounts of lived illness experiences, was employed to study the question, “What do youth, who self-identify as having recovered from youth NSSI, understand to have facilitated or made their recovery possible?” Implications for mental health professionals working with self-harming youth are discussed based on analysis of the interview data obtained.