What is Self Injury?
Self Injury (also known as self harm and self mutilation) is defined as "self mutilation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. It is defined (as a noun) as the "mutilation of oneself, especially as a symptom of mental or emotional disturbance".
What Causes One to Self Injure?
Self Injury can be a result of many things, such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Anxiety disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Eating Disorders, Substance Abuse, and many other mood and personality disorders. However, it does not have to accompany any of these things, and can be completely independent from these things. Most of the time, self injury does not indicate that one is suicidal or has attempted to commit suicide. Self Injury is used as a coping mechanism, often to release pain, discomfort, or overwhelming emotions. It is addictive and can take many years to treat.
What Does Self Injury Look Like?
The most common form of Self Injury is cutting, but there are many other ways that one can Self Injure. These include, but are not limited to: burning, scratching, interfering with the healing of wounds, self inflicted bruising, bone breaking, and hair pulling (trichotillomania). Tattoos, piercings, and professionally done body modifications are NOT Self Injury.