Self Harming

Self-harm or self-injury means hurting yourself on purpose. One common method is cutting yourself with a knife. But any time someone deliberately hurts herself is classified as self-harm. Some people feel an impulse to burn themselves, pull out hair or pick at wounds to prevent healing. Extreme injuries can result in broken bones.

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Symptoms Self Harming

Scars from cuts or burns
Claiming to have frequent accidents
Fresh cuts, scratches, or injurys
Broken bones
Keeping sharp objects on hand
Spending a great deal of time alone
Wearing long sleeves and pants even in hot weather
Difficulties with interpersonal relationships
Emotional instability
Impulsiveness and unpredictability
Depressed mood
Irritability
Frequent thoughts of helplessness, hopelessness, or worthlessness

Cutting
Burning
Poisoning
Overdosing
Carving words or symbols on the skin
Breaking bones
Hitting or punching
Piercing the skin with sharp objects
Head banging
Pinching
Biting
Pulling out hair
Interfering with wound healing

*Joanne Jozefowski in 1999 through The Phoenix Phenomenon: Rising from the Ashes of Grief summarizes five stages to rebuild a shattered life.

"Pain is real but so is hope."

~ Unknown

Helpful Links For Self Harming

Helpguide.org - Trusted guide to mental, emotional & social health by focusing on the understanding, symptoms, treatment and resources for self harming disorder.
Harmless.org.uk - Self Harm Support at Harmless providing a range of services about self harm including support, information, training and consultancy to people who self harm
Self Injury Outreach & Support - As part of a collaboration between the University of Guelph and McGill University, we are a non-profit outreach initiative providing information and resources about self-injury to those who self-injure, those who have recovered, and those who want to help.