Patients with Challenging Behaviors: Self-Injury and Denial

By Isabel N. Schuermeyer, MD, Tatiana Falcone, MD, and Kathleen Franco, MD

From time to time, all physicians encounter patients whose behavior evokes negative emotions. In 1978, Groves detailed four types of patients — “dependent clingers, entitled demanders, manipulative help-rejecters and self-destructive deniers” — that even the most seasoned physicians dread, and provided suggestions for managing interactions with them. The topic was revisited and updated in 2006 by Strous et al.

This article further updates the topic of managing challenging patients to reflect the current practice climate. We provide a more modern view of challenging patients and provide guidance on handling them.

Self-injury

A 22-year-old woman presents to the emergency department complaining of abdominal pain. After a full workup, the physician clears her medically and orders a few laboratory tests. As the nurse draws blood samples, she notices multiple fresh cuts on the patient’s arm and informs the physician. The patient is questioned and examined again and acknowledges occasional thoughts of self-harm.

Her parents arrive and appear appropriately concerned. They report that she has been “cutting” for four years and is regularly seeing a therapist. However, they say that they are not worried for her safety and that she has an appointment with her therapist this week. Based on this, the emergency department physician discharges her.

Two weeks later, the patient returns to the emergency department with continued cutting and apparent cellulitis, prompting medical admission.

Self-injury presents in many ways

Self-injurious behaviors come in many forms other than the easily recognized one presented in this case: e.g., a patient with cirrhosis who continues to drink, a patient with severe epilepsy who forgets to take medications and lands in the emergency department every week for status epilepticus, a patient with diabetes who eats a high-sugar diet, a patient with renal insufficiency who ignores water restrictions, or a patient with an organ transplant who misses medications and relapses.

There is an important psychological difference between patients who knowingly continue to challenge their luck and those who do not fully understand the severity of their condition and the consequences of their actions. The patient who simply does not “get it” can sometimes be managed effectively with education and by working with family members to create an environment to facilitate critical healthy behaviors.

Patients who willfully self-inflict injury are asking for help while doing everything to avoid being helped. They typically come to the office or the emergency department with assorted complaints, not divulging the real reason for their visit until the last minute as they are leaving. Then they drop a clue to the real concern, leaving the physician confused and frustrated.

Why deny an obvious problem?

Fear of the stigma of mental illness can be a major barrier to full disclosure of symptoms of psychological distress, and this especially tends to be the case for patients from some ethnic minorities.

On the other hand, patients with borderline or antisocial personality disorder (and less often, schizotypal or narcissistic personality disorder) frequently use denial as their primary psychological defense. Self-destructive denial is sometimes associated with traumatic memories, feelings of worthlessness, or a desire to reduce self-awareness and rationalize harmful behaviors. Such patients usually need lengthy treatment, and although the likelihood of cure is low, therapy can be helpful.

Lessons from psychiatry

It can be difficult to maintain empathy for patients who intentionally harm themselves. It is helpful to think of these patients as having a terminal illness and to recognize that they are suffering.

Different interventions have been studied for such patients. Dialectical behavior therapy, an approach that teaches patients better coping skills for regulating emotions, can help reduce maladaptive emotional distress and self-destructive behaviors. Lessons from this approach can be applied by general practitioners:

• Engage the patient and together establish an effective crisis management plan
• With patient permission, involve the family in the treatment plan
• Set clear limits about self-harm: once the patient values interaction with the doctor, he or she will be less likely to break the agreement.

Patients with severe or continuing issues can be referred to appropriate services that offer dialectical behavior therapy or other intensive outpatient programs.

To handle our patient, one might start by saying, “I am sorry to see you back in the ER. We need to treat the cellulitis and get your outpatient behavioral team on board, so we know the plan.” Then, it is critical that the entire team keep to that plan.

Dr. Schuermeyer is Director of Psycho-Oncology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology. Dr. Falcone is staff in the Epilepsy Center, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology. Dr. Franco is staff in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology.

This abridged article originally appeared in Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine and can be read in full here.