WEBVTT - Why Are Teens Cyberbullying Themselves?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hi brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Fogelbaum. Here. Today's episode deals with the subject of

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<v Speaker 1>self harm. Go on and skip it if you'd prefer,

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<v Speaker 1>and take care of yourself. Okay. When fourteen year old

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<v Speaker 1>Hannah Smith from Leicestershire, England tragically took her life in

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<v Speaker 1>her family sided months of relentless cyber bullying via the

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<v Speaker 1>web app ask dot fm. But when investigators dug deeper,

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<v Speaker 1>they discovered something even more devastating. Of the abusive messages

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<v Speaker 1>were sent by Hannah herself. It's called self cyber bullying

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<v Speaker 1>or digital self harm, the act of setting up fake

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<v Speaker 1>social media accounts to post hurtful messages about yourself. And

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<v Speaker 1>while it sounds bizarre, why would anyone, especially as struggling adolescent,

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<v Speaker 1>want to bully themselves online? It's much more common than

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<v Speaker 1>previously thought. According to a national survey of twelve to

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen year olds, seven point one percent of boys and

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<v Speaker 1>five point three percent of girls said that they had

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<v Speaker 1>anonymously posted mean messages about themselves. Samir Hindu is co

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<v Speaker 1>director of the Cyber Bullying Research Center and a professor

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<v Speaker 1>of criminology and criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University. He

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<v Speaker 1>conducted the digital self harm study with Cyberbullying Research Center

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<v Speaker 1>co director Justin Patchen, a professor of criminal justice at

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<v Speaker 1>the University of Wisconsin. All Claire Kinduja and Patchen chose

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<v Speaker 1>the term digital self harm as opposed to self cyber

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<v Speaker 1>bullying or self trolling to draw attention to possible connections

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<v Speaker 1>between this destructive online behavior and traditional self harming acts

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<v Speaker 1>like cutting, burning, or hitting oneself. According to the latest figures,

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<v Speaker 1>between thirteen and eighteen percent of adolescents worldwide report to

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<v Speaker 1>committing at least one self harming act, and more alarmingly,

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<v Speaker 1>among young adults with the history of self harming behaviors,

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<v Speaker 1>sent attempts suicide at least once, and fifty percent make

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<v Speaker 1>multiple suicide attempts. The researchers wanted to see whether there

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<v Speaker 1>might be a link between online self harm and these

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<v Speaker 1>negative behaviors. Their study represents the first comprehensive look at

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<v Speaker 1>digital self harm among adolescents, and their results were published

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<v Speaker 1>in the Journal of Adolescents Health. On the surface, digital

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<v Speaker 1>self harm looks like other instances of cyber bullying. The

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<v Speaker 1>victim receives threatening or abuse of posts on social media

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<v Speaker 1>or via text messages, saying unfortunately common internet insults along

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<v Speaker 1>the lines of your ugly and nobody likes you, or

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<v Speaker 1>you should just kill yourself. But the truth is that

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<v Speaker 1>the victim is also the perpetrator, directing the abuse at

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<v Speaker 1>themselves through behavior that's at once a call for help

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<v Speaker 1>and a cry for attention. As part of Hinduja and

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<v Speaker 1>patch and study, which analyzed email responses from a nationally

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<v Speaker 1>representative sample of five thousand, five nine adolescents, the researchers

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<v Speaker 1>asked young teens to share reasons why they had sent

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<v Speaker 1>themselves bullying messages. Some of the kids, mostly boys, so

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<v Speaker 1>that they were just bored and thought it was funny.

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<v Speaker 1>But more than half of those who admitted to cyber

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<v Speaker 1>bullying themselves indicated that other people were the real audience

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<v Speaker 1>or expressed some message of self hate. A fourteen year

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<v Speaker 1>old boyfriend Wisconsin wrote that he wanted other people's pity

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<v Speaker 1>and wanted to be validated that someone did actually care

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<v Speaker 1>about me. Another boy indicated that posting abuse of messages

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<v Speaker 1>about himself might rally a supporting online community around him. Quote,

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<v Speaker 1>everyone is going to have moments in their lives hating

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<v Speaker 1>themselves sometimes it helps posting about it online. The Internet

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<v Speaker 1>might be a terrible place, but there are tons of

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<v Speaker 1>people around the world who are willing to help you,

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<v Speaker 1>he wrote. In general, Hinduja says boys and the survey

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<v Speaker 1>were more likely to have participated in digital self harm

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<v Speaker 1>as a joke, while girls were more likely to do

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<v Speaker 1>it as an expression of what the researchers called deep

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<v Speaker 1>seated emotional turmoil. Teens who identified as lgbt Q were

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<v Speaker 1>three times more likely to cyber bully themselves, and kids

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<v Speaker 1>who are cyber bullied by others were twelve times more

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<v Speaker 1>likely to later train the abuse on themselves. As one

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen year old girl wrote on her survey, after this

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<v Speaker 1>happened at school and online, I became very depressed. I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't like myself very much. I felt like I deserved

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<v Speaker 1>to be treated this way, so I thought I would

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<v Speaker 1>get in on the fun. The researchers say that this

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<v Speaker 1>kind of self harming and self hating behavior seems completely

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<v Speaker 1>irrational from a psychological standpoint, that it's actually a classic

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<v Speaker 1>example of what are called maladaptive coping mechanisms when coping

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<v Speaker 1>with depression or abuse. Hindu Just says adults do this

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<v Speaker 1>a sort of thing. Sometimes we indulge in alcohol or drugs,

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<v Speaker 1>use smoking as a crutch, engage in reckless behavior and

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<v Speaker 1>reckless choices, sexual or otherwise. The researchers stressed that much

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<v Speaker 1>more study needs to be done in order to understand

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<v Speaker 1>the extent of digital self harming behaviors and their underlying causes,

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<v Speaker 1>but that it's important for parents, teachers, and law enforcement

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<v Speaker 1>to understand that it exists and to not assume that

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<v Speaker 1>abusive and disturbing posts necessarily originated from outside cyber bullies.

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<v Speaker 1>Organizations like the cyber Smile Foundation and to Write Love

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<v Speaker 1>on Her Arms not only offer support for people who

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<v Speaker 1>struggle with depression, self harming behavior, and cyber bullying, but

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<v Speaker 1>provide volunteer opportunities to spread messages of positivity and support online.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Dave Ruse and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil. If you are someone you know is struggling,

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<v Speaker 1>check out the organizations we just mentioned, or Google for

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<v Speaker 1>other resources in your area. I probably haven't met you,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think you're at And of course, for more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other mental health topics at

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com. M