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Many people describe hurting themselves as a way of dealing with difficult feelings or overwhelming situations. Often people who self-harm are experiencing extreme distress and self-harm is the only way that they can think of to cope. People might harm themselves in different ways such as:
- Cutting
- Taking too much medication
- Burning
- Hair pulling
- Excessive scratching
- Hitting themselves
- Tying things around parts of the body
- Starting fights or punching things
- Headbanging
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Self-harm can serve several different functions and many young people tell us that there are lots of reasons why they do it. These reasons may include:
- To manage or distract from emotional upset
- To reduce tension, frustration or anger that has built up in the body
- To express emotions such as hurt, shame or fear
- To regain control over feelings, situations, people or problems
- To create physical pain that distracts from emotional pain
- To feel something (anything)
- To bring themselves back to the present (grounding)
- To create a sense of numbness
- To punish themselves or avoid hurting others
- To draw attention to needing care and support from others
- To see if it helps (particularly when others around you are doing it)
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