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CounselEd

Self-injurious Behavior in Social Media Consumed Youth

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stressful situation (Favozza & Rosenthall, 1993). This

seems to accurately describe the perfect storm of

predictable middle/high school challenges, the dangers

of social media, the immature adolescent brain, and

perceived trauma.

Navigating the minefields of social media requires a

degree of maturity that comes with the executive func-

tioning of a prefrontal cortex. Humans are born with an

immature brain that continues to develop from birth to

about age 25 (Spear, 2000). During adolescence, the

frontal cortex is under major construction. It is the last

part of the brain to develop and takes the longest to

finish. Essentially, massive remodeling in the highest

functioning part of the brain only begins in adolescence

(Spear, 2000). The prefrontal cortex is responsible for

judgment, impulse control, planning and goal setting,

problem solving, and decision making. It is the part of

the brain that pilots complex social and stressful situa-

tions (Spear, 2000). A cortex under construction results

in adolescents operating from more primitive parts of

the brain, such as the limbic system, to manage their

emotions (Whitlock, Powers, & Eckenrode, 2006). Thus,

they are more likely to react versus engage in thought-

ful reasoning. They are more likely to misinterpret body

language and are generally more vulnerable to stress

while applying significantly disproportionate meaning to

events or experiences (Spear, 2000). The limbic sys-

tem, consisting of the amygdala, hippocampus, thala-

mus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus, is the brain’s

epicenter of emotion. This driving force in adolescents’

perception and thinking is responsible for ascribing

meaning to emotion and pain, and for regulating ag-

gressive behavior (Spear, 2000; Maczewski, 2002).

Coincidently, the limbic system is also the trauma

response center. It acts as an alarm system, triggering

the fight or flight response, monitoring anything outside

our bodies that may pose an actual or perceived threat

to us (Spear, 2000). This response stimulates the endo-

crine system and releases endorphins while adrenalin

surges to the arms and legs. Bicknell-Hentges, & Lynch

(2009) noted, “As the physiology of trauma becomes

better understood, many of the behavioral manifesta-

tions of trauma exposure make even more sense.”

Youth experiencing their traumatic adolescent years in

a social-media consumed era may be drawn to self-

destructive behavior such as SIB (Bicknell-Hentges &

Lynch, 2009). Studies suggest that what determines the

difference between what feels thrilling versus what is

dangerous is the perception of being in control of the

situation (Bicknell-Hentges & Lynch, 2009; Hollander,

2008). Although it might seem counterintuitive to thera-

pists when youth engage in behavior on social media,

such as sharing pictures of self-injuries, it functionally

exercises the developing mechanism of control. How-

ever, lacking insight, youth consequently expose them-

selves to potential for compounded trauma via negative