Psychology and Buddhism stops self harm

5:07 min

Every year hundreds of young Swedes harm themselves or attempt suicide and traditional psychiatric treatments don’t always help them. But a new form of outpatient therapy with roots in cognitive psychology and Buddhist meditation is getting surprising results.

“They helped me to deal with my feelings and thoughts and realise that it’s gonna be better,” said 21-year old Caroline who harmed herself due to depression and anxiety from the age of 13.

“I remember they taught me that feelings are like waves - they will rush over you but they will also draw back.”

It was only when she was referred to Stockholm’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic that she found a way to get on with her life. Today she’s a confident and outgoing 21 year old – she recently qualified as a hairdresser and is enthusiastic about finding a job.

Psychology with Buddhist meditation techniques

The clinic uses Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), which was originally developed in the US to treat people with borderline personality disorders.

It combines traditional cognitive psychology with Buddhist meditation theory. Patients are helped to accept their circumstances, work towards positive changes to stop dwelling on the past and judging themselves harshly.

The DBT clinic in Stockholm has adapted the therapy to fit children and teenagers who have repeatedly fallen back into self harming behaviour.

 “It’s a more intensive treatment where you see a therapist once a week and also have group sessions. And we work with the parents and focus a lot on coping skills- how to manage emotions and relationships. And how to get more quality if life, so you don’t get suicidal or get the urge to self harm,” said Dr Camilla Hallek, head of the clinic.

A way of coping with anxiety

But how common is it for your people to harm themselves and why does it happen?

“Self harm is more common among adolescents than adults. There are studies that show about 10 to 12 percent of girls in a normal population will self harm. There are no studies which show a trend but you certainly get a feeling that this has become more common during the last 10 or 15 years,” she said.

“A common reason - if you ask young people who self harm - is that it’s a way of coping with emotions and anxiety - a way of sort of calming themselves down.”

The DBT clinic began as a pilot project in 2005 and since then about 60 patients have been treated per year.

And in a study released today on a test group of 42 patients who received the treatment, none re-attempted suicide afterwards - although 60 percent had tried before.

Very few tried to harm themselves and more than two thirds could go to school or work, compared to third before the treatment.

Media gives inaccurate picture of psychiatry

Hallek says that it’s important for the media to portray psychiatric treatment in a more positive light – rather than harping back to stereotypes from the 1950s.

“There’ve been a lot of articles about young women and self harm. That they can end up locked away. The debate is often about whether they are properly treated and I think for people who read that can find it frightening,” she said.

“I sometimes feel afraid – I do hope that people will dare to seek psychiatric treatment. We want to show that you can get really good treatment – and outpatient treatment. We usually everything we can to keep people out in their normal lives.”

Carloline says that teenagers who self harm should not hesitate to look for help as its more and more common for people in Sweden to see a therapist.

 “Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Lots of people go to a therapist without anyone knowing about it. So check on the internet – there are several sites that can support you,”

People see therapists for smaller problems. It’s just good if you dare to take care of it – there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Reporter: Tom Sullivan tom.sullivan@sr.se

(The name Caroline is a pseudonym)