This qualitative study, published in JIMR mental health explores how people who self-harm engage with and evaluate web-based lived experience content. Four focus groups were conducted with 13 people with recent self-harm experience. Five themes were generated: stories of recovery from self-harm and their emotional impact, impact on self-help and help-seeking behaviours, identifying with the narrator, authenticity, and language and stereotyping.
The findings have implications for organizations publishing lived experience content and for community guidelines and moderators of web-based forums in which users share their stories. These include the need to consider the narrator’s age and the relatability and authenticity of their journey and the need to avoid using stigmatizing language. You can access the full paper here
Winstone L, Mars B, Ferrar J, Moran P, Penton-Voak I, Grace L, Biddle L. Investigating How People Who Self-harm Evaluate Web-Based Lived Experience Stories: Focus Group Study. JMIR Ment Health 2023;10:e43840
doi: 10.2196/43840