Self-harm is a coping mechanism for some people when they are faced with overwhelming emotions or distress. By inflicting physical harm on themselves, they may find temporary relief from emotional pain. Self-harm is often associated with anxiety, depression, and past trauma. It can serve various functions, such as self-punishment, communication of distress, emotional pain reduction, or to feel alive when feeling emotionally numb.
Forms of self-harm include:
- Cutting yourself or severely scratching your skin
- Burning or scalding yourself
- Poisoning yourself
- Overeating or undereating
- Hitting yourself or banging your head
- Over-exercising
- Sticking objects into your skin
- Intentionally preventing wounds from healing
- Misusing alcohol or illicit drugs
- Pulling your hair
- Having unsafe sex
While self-harm might provide temporary relief, it doesn’t resolve the underlying problems and can lead to physical damage, guilt, and shame. Self-harm is also strongly related to suicide, as over half of those who die by suicide have a history of self-harm. If you’re struggling with self-harm, consider speaking to a healthcare professional and seeking counselling to help address the psychological issues contributing to the behavior and develop healthier coping strategies.
Therapies that may help include:
- Cognitive-behavioral counselling (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior counselling (DBT)
- Schema counselling
- Cognitive analytic counselling
The highly specialized team at Hypoworry Online Counselling has expertise in managing and treating self-harm and can provide support and guidance.
