Self Harm
About Self-Injury
“While not always the case, often untreated depression and other struggles lead to unhealthy ways in which we try and deal with the hurt and pain we are feeling. We try and find anything that we can do to take away the hurt, painful feelings, or negative thoughts we are experiencing. Often the things that we turn to seem to help at first, appearing to provide some of the relief that we need so badly. But, even though they may seem like they help, often they are unhealthy themselves, eventually becoming even greater struggles like addictions such as drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, or self-injury.”
“Self-injury is also termed self-mutilation, self-harm, or self-abuse. It can be defined as the deliberate, repetitive, impulsive, non-lethal harming of one’s self, including but not limited to;
- cutting
- burning
- picking or interfering with wound healing
- infecting oneself
- punching/hitting self or objects
- inserting objects in to skin
- bruising or breaking bones
- some forms of hair pulling”
“While these behaviors pose serious risks, they may be symptoms of a problem that can be treated.
- Emptiness
- Inability to understand or express feelings
- Loneliness
- Fear
- Past Abuse
- Depression”
“Self-injury, like many addictions, is often a coping mechanism to deal with some manner of internal pain, many who struggle with it also struggle with other issues such as eating disorders and alcohol and drug abuse. While self-injury may be someone’s way to cope with or relieve painful or hard-to-express feelings and is generally NOT a suicide attempt, relief is always temporary, and usually only perpetuates a destructive cycle that continues the struggle. This cycle often means that those who do not get help can become more depressed and shameful, adding to the pain and need for relief, thus perpetuating the cycle.”
“Self-injury, like alcohol and drug abuse and eating disorders, is addictive, and thus not something that is easy to simply ‘stop’. However, while all addictions are very difficult to overcome, help and treatment are out there and available, and recovery and freedom are possible. We believe this is true whether someone’s struggles may be self injury, depression, drugs and alcohol, body image issues, sexual addiction, or other areas of brokenness.”
Quoted from Sources:
To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) http://www.twloha.com/facts/
SAFE alternatives www.selfinjury.com
Featured Image Source (Stop the Bleeding): TWLOHA
Image Source (eye tear): unknown
Image Source (We are NOT): at-risk.org
“picking or interfering with wound healing” struck a cord with me. Further research lead me to “Dermatillomania (also known as compulsive skin picking or CSP) is an impulse control disorder and form of self-injury characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one’s own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused. Dermatillomania can be a compulsion of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).” (definition from wikipedia) In therapy, one’s struggle can be expected to get worse before it gets better for many reasonings: facing the past/cause, self discovery, adjusting. This so called “habit” as many perceive it, severely worsened and has left me with a number of unwelcomed/self-inflicted scars. I hope to reach to that point of “self control.” I still feel misunderstood in this aspect.
i used to self-harm, i used to do it for ages but ive learn how to control it and stop gradually over the month, ive have been self-harming for the past 5-7 years and only learnt now a way to stop it, alot of people call me an attention seeker but they don’t know what happends behind close doors they are all to faced and need to grow up, it used to get me down but ive learned to ignore them, thank you to all the support ive had off everyone but sometime i have to do a little cut so i learn to stop fully.
it’ll be ok you’ll get throw it i was like that but ive learned that i self-harm because i have anger problems and instead of punching something and cut myself instead. you’ll get self control you just have to believe in your self lol it’ll get better xx