Investigating the impact of lived experience stories on self-harm, mood, and help-seeking intentions: an experimental study

Abstract

Objective To investigate the psychological impact of variations in help-seeking messages contained in lived experience stories about self-harm. Method In an online experiment, individuals with a recent history of self-harm, were randomised to read stories that either mentioned: i) self-help strategies, ii) seeking help from informal and formal sources, or iii) did not mention help-seeking. Help-seeking intentions, mood, entrapment, and expectations of future self-harm was measured, and participants provided feedback on the stories. Results There was limited evidence for an effect of story type on future help-seeking intentions and stronger evidence for an effect of story type on negative affect. Participants in the “Self-help” condition reported lower negative affect after reading the stories compared to participants in the “No help” condition (Mean difference = -3.97, 95% CI -7.72 to -0.22, p = .04) and the “Informal/formal” help condition (Mean difference = -3.70, 95% CI -7.55 to 0.14, p =.06). A key criticism of the stories was that they were unrelatable, but this sentiment was less prevalent among those in the “No help” condition. Key positives were that the stories included a realistic but hopeful outlook of recovery (less prevalent in the “Informal/formal help” condition) and were supportive (less prevalent in the “No help” condition). Conclusion While the inclusion of self-help strategies in a lived experience story reduced its impact on negative affect, the inclusion of self-help strategies or seeking help from others did not encourage future help-seeking intentions. Making stories relatable, authentic, and providing multiple strategies for support might be key to encourage help-seeking, but more research is needed.