Help survey undertaken by post grad at Cardiff University - 18-30yr olds

[Rob]

This research may be of no interest to you and you should feel free to ignore it.

As part of a master’s degree programme with Cardiff University, I am conducting a survey to learn about the role of anti-depressants and their possible treatment effect in self-harmers, both in the short and long term.
It is hoped that the results of the research may be useful to researchers and self harmers in the future.  The results will be posted on this forum.

Would you be willing to complete a confidential short questionnaire?  Your answers will be completely anonymised and your identity will not be known to me. 
If you would like to take part and you meet the following eligibility criteria, please click http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KD82B7X. 

o   Criteria for entry:
o   You are a male or female between the ages of 18 and 30 who currently self harms or has self harmed in the past.
o   You are currently taking, or have previously taken, anti-depressants for depression and/or self harming behaviour.
o   Whilst taking the anti-depressant, you did not receive alternative therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or psychotherapy.
It is hoped that taking part in this survey has not caused you any discomfort or distress.  If this is not the case and you need support, the following organisations provide a free and confidential service.

The National Self Harm Network (NSHN) Website: www.nshn.co.uk.
MIND info Line: 0845 766 0163 (Open Mon-Fri 9.15am-5.15pm), Email: [email protected], Website: www.mind.org.uk.
Rethink, Telephone general enquiries: 0845 456 0455, Helpline: 020 8974 6814 (Open Mon, Weds and Fri 10am to 3pm, Tues and Thurs 10am to 1pm), Email: [email protected] (general enquiries), Website: http://www.rethink.org.
If you have any questions about this research please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
This research has been approved by Cardiff University’s Research Ethics Committee.  It has also been approved by the Forum Administrator.

[adriana]

Rob, I'm a bit confused by some of the questions. For this question:
After taking your anti-depressant, did you self-harm within:

After taking your anti-depressant, did you self-harm within:   1 week of treatment?

2 weeks of treatment?

1 month of treatment?

3 months of treatment?

6 months of treatment?

After more than 6 months of treatment?

I have not self-harmed since treatment.

Do you mean after starting treatment, after finishing the course of treatment or after the treatment first started to take effect?
Also the questions regarding frequency, do you just want an average or an answer for when it was at its worst in those periods?

[Dominique]

These are good questions - thank you for raising them.  I would like to know if you began self harming within one week, two weeks, etc, of beginning the medication.  I will take an average frequency in the end, so if you could provide an average frequency, that is best.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, AND TO ALL OF YOU WHO ALREADY REPLIED.  I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR INSIGHT.  KEEP WELL.

[Dominique]

Thanks ever so much to those of you who answered my questionnaire.

If anyone else would care to do so, it is only 10 questions and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

Best wishes

Dominique

[Dominique]

To all who have responded to my survey so far, thank you very much indeed.

I have many more responses from woman than men.  I suspect that this is not because fewer men SH than women, but more to do with the fact that women are more likely to respond to surveys than men.  Does anyone know what the statistics are - men vs women?

Thank you

Dominique

[Libby]

To all who have responded to my survey so far, thank you very much indeed.

I have many more responses from woman than men.  I suspect that this is not because fewer men SH than women, but more to do with the fact that women are more likely to respond to surveys than men.  Does anyone know what the statistics are - men vs women?

Thank you

Dominique

I am not sure about the excat number, but I know the offical stats would hide the true figure. But as a guideline on this forum stats its:

Male to Female Ratio: 1:5.8

However this is just for members on the forum- members can be who have enrolled on here may be proffesionals, or carers/friends/family of those who self harm.

x

[Dominique]

Thank you for that info.  I suspect there may not be a gender bias but, from my literature search so far, there do seem to be more women self harming than men, and the reasons for this appear to be very complex.

I have learnt so much about self harm conducting this piece of research.  Although I still fear for the person I know who does this, I do feel that I understand her feelings much more.

The first draft needs to be done by beginning March, so if anyone would like to answer the questionnaire (5-10 mins max), your input will be welcome.  I have 30 responses from this and another site.  50 would be a more realistic sample to work with. 

Thank you all so very much for your responses so far!

Please keep well.

Dominique

[Dominique]

PERFORMING INTERIM ANALYSIS NEXT WEEK!

Please complete the survey if you still wish to and have not done so already.

Many thanks

Dominique
x

[Dominique]

Last chance!

Am attempting one final push!  Please complete the questionnaire before it closes tomorrow.  Many, many thanks.
Dominique

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KD82B7X.