Hope for Self-Harm Behaviors
Self-injury, also called self-harm, is the act of deliberately harming your own body, such as cutting, hitting or burning yourself. It’s typically not meant as a suicide attempt. Rather, self-injury is an unhealthy way to cope with emotional pain, intense anger and frustration.
While self-injury may bring a momentary sense of calm and a release of tension, it’s usually followed by guilt and shame and the return of painful emotions. And with self-injury comes the possibility of more serious and even fatal self-aggressive actions.
Because self-injury is often done impulsively, it can be considered an impulse-control behavior problem. Self-injury may be linked to a variety of mental disorders, such as depression, eating disorders and borderline personality disorder.
If you’re injuring yourself, even in a minor way, or if you have thoughts of harming yourself, reach out for help. Any form of self-injury is a sign of larger issues that need to be addressed.
When a Friend or Loved One is Hurting Themselves
If you have a friend or loved one who is self-injuring, you may be shocked and scared. Take all talk of self-injury seriously. Although you might feel that you’d be betraying a confidence, self-injury is too big a problem to ignore or to deal with alone.
Get the Support You Need
The experienced therapists at CEDM understand what it’s like to have underlying anger, self-esteem or other issues that lead to destructive behaviors. We will help you learn coping skills to deal with your anger and frustration in less self-destructive ways.
Call CEDM at (603) 472-2846 today or CLICK HERE to contact our Intake Coordinator.