“I think self-harm to self-kindness is how it’s sort of developed over time” The experiences of young men who engaged in self-harm during adolescence and help-seeking behaviours: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

As part of the Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, the author of this thesis was particularly interested in exploring men’s mental health, barriers to help-seeking and young males’ experiences of self-harm. Paper 1 is a comprehensive literature review of 16 published studies that explore the barriers to mental health help-seeking in working age males. Findings indicated that men who adhered more strongly to gender role constructs such as ‘traditional masculinity’, were less likely to seek help for their mental health. They were more likely to minimise mental health symptoms and self-medicate using illicit substances. Younger, lower-educated and rurally based men were more likely to adhere to these gender constructs and therefore less likely to seek help for their mental health. Paper 2 is an empirical study which used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore how young males made sense of their self-harm during their adolescence, and their experiences of help-seeking. Findings suggest that overwhelming emotions, a sense of relief, a need to punish themselves, and self-loathing were driving factors for these young men’s self-harm. Unhelpful experiences of help-seeking led these young people to feel misunderstood and judged for their self-harm by those around them, including services. However, participants shared that experiences which allowed them to feel heard and understood, opened the door for future help-seeking and allowed them to treat themselves with more self-compassion and kindness. Paper 3 is an executive summary which is an accessible version of the empirical study that was written for the participants of this study. Within this summary the aims, methods, findings, and implications are discussed. Two participants gave feedback on the accessibility and accuracy of their experiences within the executive summary. This summary can also be disseminated to professionals in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services as well as the general public.