Self Injury

Self injury is the act of deliberately harming your own body. Self injuries are self inflicted wounds that are severe enough for tissue damage (such as scarring) to result. Are you hurting yourself? Do you intentionally try to harm yourself? Do you cause this harm to yourself as a way of dealing with unpleasant or overwhelming emotions, obsessive thoughts or disassociation? Do you think about harming yourself even when you are relatively calm and are not doing it at that moment? Do you find yourself doing these things, if so, you are not alone...help is available. Self-injury exists in many forms. People may also burn themselves, punch themselves or hit their bodies against something, scratch, and interfere with wound healing. Some people pick their skin or pull out their hair. Men from all socioeconomic classes, ethnicities, sexual orientations and ages are capable of becoming self injurers. Self injurers tend to strongly dislike themselves, are chronically angry at themselves, suppress their anger, do not plan for the future, exert depressive or suicidal behavior, and suffer chronic anxiety. You are not alone, Help is Available... If you are someone who self injures....Think about what self injury is "saying" about your feelings and your life. This will give you clues about problems you need to work on. You might find it helpful to talk about your situation and what you think causes you to hurt yourself with friends or a counselor. If you want to help someone who self-injures...Offer that person acceptance and support. Let your friend know that you understand that self injury is helping him/her to cope at the moment. Understanding why people hurt themselves is an important step toward healing. Many labels have been applied to people who hurt themselves; labels are not important, but help is.