Did Self-Injury Increase During the COVID-19 Lockdown?, with Dr. Ruth Tatnell

<p>Early in the pandemic there was a lot of talk about how the initial lockdown and stay-at-home orders would affect people’s mental health, including risk for suicide and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). In this episode, Dr. Ruth Tatnell answers questions about the pandemic's effects on rates of self-injury: Did the initial lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic increase self-injury urges and behaviors like many people thought would happen? And do we know if self-harm has increased, decreased, or stayed the same since the first lockdown of the pandemic?</p><p>Learn more about Dr. Tatnell and her work at Deakin University <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/people/ruth-tatnell" target="_blank">here</a>, and connect with her on LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-tatnell-8331103b/?originalSubdomain=au" target="_blank">here</a>. Below is her publication discussed in this month's episode as well as additional articles referenced in our interview:</p><ol><li>Tatnell, R., Terhaag, S., & Melvin, G. (2023). <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13811118.2022.2155279?journalCode=usui20" target="_blank">Covid-19 lockdown and non-suicidal self-injury: A Mixed methods analysis of NSSI during Australia's national lockdown</a>. <i>Archives of Suicide Research</i>. Online ahead of print.</li><li>Tanaka, T., & Okamoto, S. (2021). <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01042-z" target="_blank">Increase in suicide following an initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan</a>. <i>Nature Human Behaviour, 5</i>(2), 229–238.</li><li>Read about the Harvard Happiness Study published in The Atlantic <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/harvard-happiness-study-relationships/672753/" target="_blank">here</a>. </li><li>Read about the Cigna loneliness study <a href="https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SCA_Holt_04_27_17.pdf" target="_blank">here </a>and their tips for addressing loneliness <a href="https://www.cigna.com/static/www-cigna-com/docs/health-car