She may be a victim of self-harm

Young Black women prove to be much more likely to inflict harm on themselves than people from other ethnic groups, a new study suggests.

Individuals from minority ethnic groups, including Blacks, are not as likely to seek help after conflicting harm upon themselves as White people are.

For the study, 14,997 emergency room attendees from three different cities were analyzed after inflicting harm upon themselves. It was determined that young Black women harmed themselves physically more often than women from other ethnic groups.

While Black women were more likely to inflict harm upon themselves, the same was not true with young Black men when compared to White men.

This study is the first of its kind to reveal higher rates of self inflicted harm by Black women. Experts speculate the higher rates in Black women may be caused by social issues they are experiencing, including unemployment or living situation problems. Additional reasoning for increased self-harm from ethnic minorities may be due to stress from school, as White people were less frequently to be considered students in this study.

This study will be a great tool to assist professional organizations working to assist those who cause harm upon themselves. A challenge, however, is creating services that are minority sensitive, allowing all people to receive equal treatment and assessment from those they feel comfortable with.