Condition : Self-harm

Condition Self-harm

What is self-harm?

Self-harm is when you hurt yourself as a way of expressing or coping with difficult emotions, feeling in control, or responding to intrusive and negative thoughts.

It can be a way of expressing thoughts of suicide, but it’s important to understand that not everyone who self-harms wants to end their life. Some people use self-harm as a way of coping with severe emotional distress as, after self-harming they feel a short-term sense of release or control of their feelings.

Despite what some people believe, self-harm is not simply attention seeking. Self-harm is often kept private, with injuries being on areas that can be concealed, such as thighs, arms, and torso.

It is not ‘wrong’, however, if someone self-harms as a way of getting attention.

Cutting yourself is a common form of self-harm, but there are many other self-harming behaviours, including:

hurting yourself through biting, hitting, burning, hair-pulling, or other methods
putting yourself at risk of harm (for example, by getting into fights)
preventing an injury or wound from healing
doing things that are bad for your health, such as taking drugs, overdosing, drinking too much alcohol, eating too much or too little, forcing yourself to be sick, or over-exercising
gambling and other addictive behaviours
not taking care of yourself (for example, skipping hygiene tasks like brushing your teeth)
posting hurtful comments about yourself on social media (known as digital self-harm)

What causes self-harm?

The reasons why someone might self-harm can be quite complex. The build-up to thinking about self-harm often involves lots of small things, rather than just one cause.

You are more likely to self-harm if you’ve experienced or witnessed a traumatic situation which caused you to feel strong negative emotions, such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, or disgust.

Individuals who are LGBTQ+ or are from a minority community are more likely to have difficult experiences due to stigma and discrimination.

Self-harm can appear alongside other mental health conditions, such as:

Next steps

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Managing your health

Adults

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External support

Children and young people

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