2011

Currently, there is no formal diagnosis for self-injury to be found in the most prominent source for mental health professionals, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, [DSM-IV-TR], 2000). Selfinjurious behavior may be the newest teen disorder sweeping the nation and support to include a formal diagnosis of self-injury in the newest manual, the DSM-V, is growing. Research continues to support the belief that non-suicidal self-injury is growing among teenagers, reaching younger students, and often continuing to be an issue for young people throughout early adulthood. For the mental health professional, accurately diagnosing and treating can be especially difficult, particularly since self-injury is not listed as a stand-alone diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2000). Currently, this diagnostic manual includes self-injury as a symptom of or associated with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), as shown in Table 1. Yet many practitioners find their clients do not easily fit into that diagnostic category. This article will seek to examine the significance and implications for the inclusion of self-injury in the DSM-V. Attention will be given to rationale for the diagnosis, contemporary issues facing therapists and clients, and practical suggestions for effective therapeutic intervention strategies. The inclusion of self-injury as a diagnosis in the DSM-V will assistant professionals as they seek to define the problem of self-injury, describe the profile of self-injurers more clearly, and develop a plan for education, intervention, and prevention as it relates to the disorder.