Mental Health and Self-Injury
Self
injury, also called self-harm, self-mutilation, or simply cutting, is
defined as any intentional injury to one's own body. Usually,
self-injury leaves marks or causes tissue damage. Self-injury can
involve any of the following behaviors:
- Cutting
- Burning (or "branding" with hot objects)
- Excessive body piercing or tattooing
- Picking at skin or re-opening wounds
- Hair-pulling (trichotillomania)
- Head-banging
- Hitting (with hammer or other object)
- Bone-breaking
Most who engage in self-injury act alone rather than in groups. They also attempt to hide their behavior.
Important
It is possible that the main title of the report Dysthymia is not the
name you expected. Please check the synonyms listing to find the
alternate name(s) and disorder subdivision(s) covered by this report.
Who Is More Likely to Engage in Self-Injury?
Self-injury
occurs across the spectrum; the behavior is not limited by education,
age, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or religion.
However, self-injury occurs more often among:
- Adolescent females
- People who have a history of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
- People who have co-existing problems of substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or eating disorders
- Individuals who were often raised in families that discouraged expression of anger
- Individuals who lack skills to express their emotions and lack a good social support network
What Leads to Self-Injury?
Self-injury
usually occurs when people face what seem like overwhelming or
distressing feelings. It can also be an act of rebellion and/or
rejection of parents' values and a way of individualizing oneself.
Sufferers may feel that self-injury is a way of:
- Temporarily relieving intense feelings, pressure, or anxiety.
- Being a means to control and manage pain - unlike the pain experienced through physical or sexual abuse or trauma.
- Providing a way to break through emotional numbness (the self-anesthesia that allows someone to cut without feeling pain).
- Asking for help in an indirect way or drawing attention to the need for help.
- Attempting to affect others by manipulating them, trying to make them care, trying to make them feel guilty, or trying to make them go away.
Self-injury
also may be a reflection of a person's self-hatred. Some self-injurers
are punishing themselves for having strong feelings that they were
usually not allowed to express as children. They also may be punishing
themselves for somehow being bad and undeserving. These feelings are an
outgrowth of abuse and a belief that the abuse was deserved.
Although self-inflicted injury may result in life-threatening damage, it is not considered to be suicidal behavior.
What Are the Symptoms of Self-Injury?
The symptoms of self-injury include:
- Frequent cuts and burns that cannot be explained
- Self-punching or scratching
- Needle sticking
- Head banging
- Eye pressing
- Finger or arm biting
- Pulling out one's hair
- Picking at one's skin
Warning Signs of Self-Injury
Signs that an individual may be engaging in self-injury include:
- Wearing of pants and long sleeves in warm weather.
- The appearance of lighters, razors, or sharp objects that one would not expect among a person's belongings.
- Low self-esteem.
- Difficulty handling feelings.
- Relationship problems.
- Poor functioning at work, school, or home.
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