Why Self Harm?

Self –harm or self-injury is a behavioural response to an emotional state. It isn’t usually done to annoy, irritate or anger those around them. Most people can’t imagine themselves doing such a destructive act towards their own body. So what makes some one want to physically hurt themselves?

Perhaps by understanding what coping skills are absent in someone we can be more open to understanding the reasons why…...

• ‘I can’t handle my emotions very well, I need to hurt myself to make me feel better.’

• ‘Sometimes it’s a way of releasing the anxiety and panic that I’m feeling.’

• ‘It’s a way of punishing myself for whatever, at that moment I feel I need to be punished for.’

• ‘I like feeling that its me causing the pain and not someone else.’

• ‘Its like letting off steam, it stops the inner turmoil for a while.’

• ‘Because I hate myself, the way I look.’
  
  
• ‘It’s easier to hurt myself than talk to someone else about how I feel.’
  
  
• ‘I don’t know why I do it – it scares me – but most of the time I feel so angry – with myself.’
  
  
• ‘It grounds me, gives me a sense of relief and calmness.’
  
  
• ‘I love to watch myself bleed, it relieves stress… makes me feel happy.’
  
  
• ‘To get my mind off ending my life. It’s the only way I stay alive.’
  
  
• ‘Sometimes I do it just to see the blood and know that I am still alive.’
  
  
• ‘To punish myself for being a bad person.’
  
  
• ‘I feel lost, inadequate, incompetent, unworthy. I wish this would go away.’
  
  
• ‘I do it because I can’t get mad at other people.’

(Quotes taken from www.siari.co.uk)