Why?

Most people self-injure to relieve some unpleasant emotion, ranging from anxiety to depression. Find out more about why people self-injure.

Why do people Self-Injure?

It's relief through release. Most people Self-Injure to relieve some unpleasant emotion, ranging from anxiety to depression. "Studies have suggested that when people who self-injure get emotionally overwhelmed, an act of self-harm brings their levels of psychological and physiological tension and arousal back to a bearable baseline level almost immediately."

There are many speculations about why people Self-Injure. Some experts think the behavior stems form childhood trauma or abuse. However, statistics don't support this theory. The backgrounds of people that SI are varied, coming from both abusive and non-abusive households. People also cited the need to feel real among their reasons for self-injury. Hurting themselves makes them feel something, where they otherwise feel numb to the world around them. Another theory concerning people that SI is chemical:

"Just as it's suspected that the way the brain uses serotonin may play a role in depression, so scientists think that problems in the serotonin system may predispose some people to self-injury by making them tend to be more aggressive and impulsive than most people."

Unfortunately for the Self-Injurer, much social stigma surrounds the issue. "In emergency rooms, people with self-inflicted wounds are often told directly and indirectly, that they are not as deserving of care as someone who has an accidental injury. They are treated badly by the same doctors who would not hesitate to do everything possible to preserve the life of an overweight, sedentary heart-attack patient." Click here to read about what you can do to help your friend at the emergency room if s/he Self-Injures.

If you are thinking about self-injuring and want to explore your reasons and possible alternatives, click here to give yourself a little test.

Masking Pain

One reason that people self-injure is translate mental or intangible pain into understandable pain. Some people deal with extremely painful memories or thoughts by deflecting the distress into pain that seems acceptable and controllable, like that of self-injury. Self-Injury is seductive because you control it. It makes sense and it makes the distress go away for a while. Unfortunately, this only allows the self-injurer to distract themselves with a problem they're creating instead of the real problem. For a lot of people, this transference is subconscious. By not dealing with the real issue that is causing distress, the problem cannot go away, which makes kicking the habit of Self-Injury that much more difficult.

You must deal with the unbearable if you ever want to gain power over your own life. Each time you can meet the real pain head-on and tolerate the distress, it loses a little of its power over you and eventually it becomes a memory. The key is learning to tolerate distress without self-injuring.

Keeping Yourself Safe When You Self-Injure

• Don't share cutting implements with anyone because they can spread disease just like sharing a needle can.
• Keep cuts shallow and have first aid supplies on hand. Know what to do in the case of emergencies.
• Push for the minimum. Set limits. Don't allow yourself to over-do it. At least this will help you exert some control over your self-injury so you can look to quitting completely in the future.