2023 Volume 33 Pages 23-31
Objectives: The self-injured person seems to have no heart, although clearly that entity is there. The purpose of this study is to investigate the apparent lack of sense of a meaningful existence in self-injured tendency people. We will also examine whether this condition relates to tendencies and characteristics of a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), and a childhood history of low maternal validation.
Methods: We administered a questionnaire to 129 university students and obtained 127 valid responses (achieving 98.4% response rate).
Results: According to the results, lack of maternal validation negates a children’s sense of existence. In addition, lack of validation by mothers is associated with a reduction in children’s sense of importance and purpose, and propensity for cognitive errors. On the other hand, being HSPs directly increases children’s thinking errors. Our results confirmed that the two are synergistically related, and cause an increase in self-injured tendencies.
Conclusions: It is difficult for self-injured people to interact with others because they have little sense of their own existence. They appear to be apathetic and detached, as if lacking a heart. We propose that reducing and preventing self-injured behavior will require therapeutic approaches that promote enhanced interaction with others and improve psychological well-bein and a strong sense of existence.
