What is self-harm?
As defined by the Mayo Clinic: Self-harm or self-injury is the act of deliberately harming the surface of your own body, such as cutting or burning yourself. It's typically not meant as a suicide attempt. Rather, this type of self-injury is an unhealthy way to cope with emotional pain, intense anger and frustration.
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Scratching or pinching:
Severely scratching or pinching with fingernails or objects to the point that bleeding occurred or marks remained on the skin.
- This method of self-injury was seen in more than half of all students who reported participating in self-harm.
Impact with objects:
Banging or punching objects to the point of bruising or bleeding.
- This way to self-harm was seen in just over 37% of the self-harming students.
Cutting:
While cutting is often considered synonymous with self-harm, this way of self-mutilation only occurred in just over 1-in-3 students who reported self-harming. Cutting is more common among females.
Impact with oneself:
Banging or punching oneself to the point of bruising or bleeding.
- This way to self-injure was seen in almost 25% of the students who reported self-harming behaviors.
Ripped skin:
Ripping or tearing skin.
- This type of self-injury was seen in just under 16% of those who admitted to self-harming behaviors.
Carving:
When a person carves words or symbols into the skin. This is separate from cutting.
- This method of self-mutilation was identified by just under 15% of those who self-harm.
Interfering with healing:
This way of self-mutilation is often in combination with other types of self-harm. In this case, a person purposefully hampers the healing of wounds.
- This method of self-harm was used by 13.5% of respondents.
Burning:
Burning skin is a way of self-mutilation.
- Burning as a way of self-injury was seen in 12.9% of students who self-harmed.
Rubbing objects into the skin:
Rubbing of sharp objects, such as glass, into the skin.
- Twelve percent of responding students used this way to self-harm.
Hair-pulling:
This way to self-harm is medically known as trichotillomania. In trichotillomania, a person feels compelled to pull out their own hair and in some cases even ingest that hair.
- This type to self-injury was seen in 11% of students who self-harmed.
Self-help videos
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Top signs that someone is |
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Why should you stop Self-Harming?
- Although self-harm can give you temporary relief, it comes at a cost. In the long term, it causes far more problems than it solves.
- The relief is short lived, and is quickly followed by other feelings like shame and guilt. Meanwhile, it keeps you from learning more effective strategies for feeling better.
- Keeping the secret from friends and family members is difficult and lonely.
- You can hurt yourself badly, even if you don’t mean to. It’s easy to misjudge the depth of a cut or end up with an infected wound.
- If you don’t learn other ways to deal with emotional pain, it puts you at risk for bigger problems down the line, including major depression, drug and alcohol addiction, and suicide.
- Self-harm can become addictive. It may start off as an impulse or something you do to feel more in control, but soon it feels like self-harm is controlling you. It often turns into a compulsive behavior that seems impossible to stop.
Ways to stop Self-harming.
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General:
If you self-harm to express pain and intense emotions:
If you self-harm to calm and soothe yourself:
If you self-harm because you feel disconnected and numb:
If you self-harm to release tension or vent anger:
- Take any items that you use for self harm or that trigger you and put them in a lock box,give the key to some one you trust.
- Realize why you self-harm,figure out the exact reasoning and admit that you have a problem.
- Tell some body,talking helps make it easier to cope as you don't feel as alone
If you self-harm to express pain and intense emotions:
- Paint, draw, or scribble on a big piece of paper with red ink or paint
- Express your feelings in a journal
- Compose a poem or song to say what you feel
- Write down any negative feelings and then rip the paper up
- Listen to music that expresses what you’re feeling
If you self-harm to calm and soothe yourself:
- Take a bath or hot shower without any razors near the tub or shower.
- Pet or cuddle with a dog or cat
- Wrap yourself in a warm blanket
- Massage your neck, hands, and feet
- Listen to calming music
If you self-harm because you feel disconnected and numb:
- Call a friend (you don’t have to talk about self-harm)
- Take a cold shower
- Hold an ice cube in the crook of your arm or leg
- Chew something with a very strong taste, like chili peppers, peppermint, or a grapefruit peel.
- Go online to a self-help website, chat room, or message board
If you self-harm to release tension or vent anger:
- Exercise vigorously—run, dance, jump rope, or hit a punching bag
- Punch a cushion or mattress or scream into your pillow
- Squeeze a stress ball or squish Play-Doh or clay
- Rip something up (sheets of paper, a magazine)
- Make some noise (play an instrument, bang on pots and pans)