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If you are reading this and are a self injurer know you are not alone, no matter how it much it may feel like it. There is help available and you CAN recover from this.
If you are on this page because you know someone who self injures, firstly I congratulate you for making the effort to educate yourself about this issue. The more you learn, the more you will understand and the more you will be able to help the one’s you love who are be battling with self injury.
What is Self Injury…
Self Injury (also known as self harm or self mutilation) is the act of deliberate injury to one's body. This injury may be viewed as an attempt to relieve unbearable emotions, sensations of unreality/numbness, or for other reasons. Self injury is done without the intention of committing suicide, however, just because self injury may not be suicidal behaviour does not mean that it should be ignored or not taken seriously. Self injury in time can become an addiction and can cause complications such as muscle and tissue damage. Self injury leaves behind scars and marks which many self injurers will try to hide.
Self injury is no longer a rare issue; it is startlingly real, what makes it more frightening however are that most self injurious behaviour goes unnoticed. However, there are signs, behaviours and warnings that can indicate self harming behaviour. These may include:
- Unexplainable cuts, scratches, burns, bruises, broken bones or other injuries
- Excessive and unexplainable scars from cuts or burns
- Claiming to have frequent accidents or mishaps
- Unexplained blood stains on clothing, bedding etc
- Individual becomes defensive if asked questions regarding injuries
- Spending a great deal of time alone
- Wearing long sleeves/pants continuously even in hot weather
- Keeping sharp objects or lighters on hand for unknown reasons
- Low confidence or self esteem
- History of emotional trauma or abuse
- Individual has problems functioning at home/work/school
If someone you know shows signs of this behaviour, do not panic. Remember, it does not necessarily point to self injury! However it is recommended you learn all you can about self injury as to better understand the issue.
Why do People Self Injure…
The most commonly question and hardest issue to understand is why? Why does someone purposely want to cut, burn or cause harm to themselves? The idea of someone intentionally inflicting wounds to themselves is an idea most people find hard to understand. However, there are a growing amount of people who do resort to self injury and understanding the problem is the first step in changing it.
An important point to understand is that self injury in not suicidal behaviour! Self injury mainly occurs when someone is facing overwhelming or distressing emotions. Pinpointing the exact reason for self injury is difficult as it varies from person to person.
Temporary Relief - Self injury can provide a temporary relief from intense feelings, such as pressure, anxiety or anger. When a self injurer are suffering from intense emotions they often feel ‘triggered’ and think that harming themselves will ease these emotions.
In other situations self injury can act as a ‘self-soothing’ coping mechanism for someone who does not have other means to calm intense emotions.
Feeling Alive – Sometimes it is possible for self injurers to experience a feeling of emotional numbness. While experiencing this lack of sensation self injurers find that by hurting themselves they are breaking this numbness which provides them with a sense of being real, being alive and being able to feel something.
Dissociation – Dissociation can be defined as “the psychological state or condition in which certain thoughts, emotions, sensation or memories are separated from the rest of the awareness.†When someone experiences a mild dissociative state they may feel “unreal†or feel like they are outside their bodies, but in more permanent states of dissociation amnesia (memory loss) or fugue state (where someone forgets who they are and assumes a new identity) can occur. The most severe form is known as Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Some people may use self injury as a way to reduce, prevent or ‘snap back’ from a dissociative state. When a dissociative state is experienced the individuals tolerance to pain can be increased. In a way they can reduce the feelings of the pain they are inflicted. However, this is often a concern as it means a person can inflict much more harm to their selves without realising.
Expressing Internal Pain – By injuring themselves externally self injurers are in a sense converting their pain from emotional to physical pain. It is felt that physical pain is easier to deal with than emotional pain. It could also be a way to express to everyone just how much they are hurting inside. For example by injuring externally, self injurers could be trying to say “Help me, I hurt on the inside.†In a way, self injury can be an indirect way of asking for help.
Sense of Controlling Pain – If the individual who is self injuring has a history of emotional trauma or physical/sexual abuse, then by hurting themselves they are showing a certain sense of control over their pain. They may not have had control over past issues of trauma or abuse but by self injuring they are controlling and managing their own pain.
Self Loathing – Self injury can be used as a punishment for people who have strong feelings which they may not of been allowed to express as children. Self injurers can also use self harm for punishment in the sense that they are ‘bad’ and ‘unworthy’ this is usually an outgrowth of abuse and a belief that the pain is deserved.
Self Care – In some cases self injury can be used as an obscure method of self-nurturing. The self care in tending to be wounds, made by the result of self harming, can be quite therapeutic and calming to people who haven’t learnt how to self care in a more direct way.
What Kind of People Self Injure…
While common myths state that self injury is only for those who are seeking attention or trying to kill themselves, this are NOT true. Other myths state that only teenager or females self injure, again this is NOT true. Self injury is not restricted to age or gender, there is no specific ‘type’ of person who self injures.
However, in some cases there are some commonly seen factors regarding those who self injure. Such as, those who have co-existing problems of:
- Substance abuse
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- History of physical/emotional/sexual abuse
- History of emotional trauma
- Individuals raised in families that discouraged
expression of emotions
- Individuals who lack a social support network.
This does not mean anybody who these problems apply to necessary self injury. These are just some commonly seen factors.
While self injury may be stereotyped as an issue that only applies to teenage girls. Reality is it can apply to anyone! While it was once thought that only females took part in self injury, it is now shown that self harming behaviour is pretty much equal between the genders. Self injury is also now recognised as a problem that can affect anyone, no matter what their age. Self injury can affect anyone!
Methods of Self Injury...
- Cutting
- Burning
- Interference of Injuries (intentionally farther aggravating previous wounds.)
- Trichotillomania (a recognised psychological disorder for the excessive removal of hair, more commonly referred to as hair-pulling.)
- Hitting
- Biting
- Scratching
- Head-Banging
- Bone-Breaking (a severe form of self injury.)
While all aspects of self injury are serious, they are extreme cases types of self-mutilation heard of such as castration and amputation, which are rare and mostly associated with psychosis.
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