Why Do People Self Harm?
This self harm article comes from the writer’s personal experience.
Self harm and self mutilation is more common than many people might believe. There is also the idea the self harm solely occurs with teenage girls or troubled teenage boys. On the contrary, self harm and self mutilation occurs in men and woman no matter what level of wealth, social status they might have or the nature of their profession.
At one end, self harm is a release valve; as the pressure of life or work builds up then steam is released through self harm. This may be cutting the self, biting, hair pulling, hitting the self or overdosing on paracetamol and aspirin. The desire is usually not to end life but to release pressure. It has very little to do with ‘attention seeking’ as some people believe. This also goes for mental health workers; self harm is a serious business and is the outward physical effect of deep, inner trauma.
At the other end of the scale, self harm arises from guilt, shame and anger. This may be due to verbal or physical abuse or may be the result of other mental health issue. It can also arise from poor treatment and a poor choice of medication given to a sufferer.
If you find a good mental health worker or understand about self harm and self mutilation, then you are lucky. Unfortunately, the only people who really know what self harm means are the self harmers. This is where support groups are invaluable as they offer insights into suffering that only another self harmer could know.
Remember, self harm and self mutilation is not necessarily about depression. It can be simply that family and work become so demanding that this becomes the only way to release the intense pressure that builds up. This is where the self harmer needs to be taken very seriously and then be shown other techniques that can alleviate the buildup of this pressure.
Another side is the guilt and shame that can cause someone to punish themselves with self harm. This is where therapy needs to find out, where this guilt and shame came from and to undo the deep rooted psychological programming.
Treating self harm is not just bandaging someone up, giving them medication and sending them on their way. Treating self harm is about understanding and caring; it is about suspending judgement and stopping the stereotyping. Then, when the mental health issues are understood can the self harm be dealt with.
It is also vital not to take away the self harm, unless of course there is immediate danger to the self harmer. The self harm needs to be replaced with another coping mechanism so that healing can continue. Self harm is a coping mechanism, when the root cause is discovered then a suitable replacement can be implemented and the self harm may disappear for good.
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