Self-injurious Behaviour

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ability to care for him.
Rather than focussing on the self-injury specifically related to ‘John’s’ case, I will examine the possible ways to manage , especially in persons with learning disabilities.

To manage this problem effectively, a multi-disciplinary approach is required, but for the purposes of this essay I will look at the problem from a Nurse’s perspective. I will begin by giving a brief description of self-injurious behaviour and the possible causes. I will then highlight the different techniques available to Nurses for the management of this behaviour.


Self-injurious behaviour

Murphy and Wilson(1985) define this as:

“Any behaviour initiated by the individual, which directly results in physical harm to that individual.”

As is apparent in the literature, self-injurious behaviour is referred to as any behaviour that can cause tissue damage, such as bruises, redness, and open wounds. The most common forms of these ...

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which I will discuss later. This was thought to be the best course of action, but it lead to ‘John’ being restrained for nearly an hour, followed by him being sedated with an intra-muscular injection of chlorpromazine. What can learned from this is that it demonstrates the need for careful assessment of the individual. As highlighted by Murphy and Wilson(1985):

“The treatment selected will depend on how the self-injurious behaviour originally developed and what factors maintain it.”

There are a wide variety of different strategies or factors involved in treating or managing self-injurious behaviour. These include restraint, pharmacotheraphy, ...

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