Is it Self-Harm?

Question

What are the signs of someone who self-harms, as in cutting?
I think one of my friends might but i'm not for sure.
Is there a website that might help?
Thanks.

I'm not able to actually see her arms or legs, but is there certain behavior that will show that someone might be doing it?

well i'm a cutter, i just don't know how to tell on other people

Answer 1

You need to be looking for injuries, particularly on the arms, legs and stomach. These can be burns, scratches, raw marks, cuts and gashes.

Look for secretive behaiviors. Do they spend a lot of time alone, do they make frequent trips to the bathroom only to come back acting different.

How does your friend handle her life. Does she feel that she can't control something major? Has there been a serious life altering experiance (EX: a rape, a death, terminal illness, poverty, break up...) ??

Cutting is just as much about psycho-control as eating disorders. Cutting helps take the pain you feel inside and makes it visable on the outside.

Answer 2

Hello...i hope this helps as you have had received some excellent advice..my self injury was kept very private..once i did finally seek help, i had over 150 scars on my stomach alone...the book that was most helpful was called "Bodily Harm" the doctors who are the authors of the book run an inpatient, 30 day clinic called SAFE..(self abuse finally ends)...it was extremely helpful and i have been able to recover...the therapy though..i dont remember a day there that i did not cry...its not easy and you and your friend MUST be ready...please let me know if there is anything else i can help with...be well and be safe..

Answer 3

a way to tell if someone is cutting is

Expressing (verbally or in writing) no hope for the future

Thinking they are worthless or have committed an unforgivable act

Hearing voices telling them to do anything that could result in harm to themselves or others

Experiencing visual or other hallucinations that provoke terror

Writing or talking of self-destructive plans

Selling off or giving away personal possessions

Making threatening statements

Alarming changes in mood

Answer 4

People cut on different parts of the body. But if you see superficial scratches on someone's arm or other areas that is usually a sign that someone is self mutilating.

Answer 5

i been a cutter since i was 11 and i am 24 yrs old. people self harm in many ways. depends on what situation they are going through. the best websites is to look through google on 'self harm' or check this link.

http://www.selfharm.org/publications/sia/index.html
http://www.healingselfinjury.org/
http://members.tripod.com/~fuschia9/si.htm

Answer 6

Call your local mental health dept. They could tell you the signs, and provide you with the info you need a lot quicker than you trying to research. Your friend needs help now.

Answer 7

when i was in HS and i cut myself my best friend freaked out and told the school couselor. that was the best thing anyone had ever done for me. i wasn't made and in a sense, releived. tell your school psychologist. they will figure it out. cutting is a not so good coping stratagy. the scars last a lifetime and i regret it now, 10 yrs later. get some help babe. you and your friend should talk about it and you should also talk to the school psychologist

Answer 8

I am a retired mental health practitioner of 20+ years experience, and have been retired 8 or so years, and your question brings to mind one of my clients who severely cut both of his hands, the palms, and I had him in counseling and once sent him to our emergency or crisis care unit, a small psychiatric in-patient unit for a short time, say a week or two, before he was discharged back to my office. He came from a drug addicted and alcoholic family and had a depressed and anxious disorder as a result, and eventually, while he was in highschool, began cutting up the palms of his hands severely, to the point they looked like he had stuck them in a meat grinder. With very supportive counseling and a triage of psychiatric attention predominantly on an outpatient basis, eventually leading up to attending his highschool graduation in a nearby big city, this young man stopped mutilating his hands. He was doing well at the time me and two of the psychiatric nurses where he stayed for the week or so drove 100+ miles to attend his "big-city" graduation where numerous highschools held their graduations in a huge auditorium. We gave such a huge cheer, just the three of us, that he actually heard us and responded to us with a wave, and considering how many thousands of graduating seniors and there families there was there, that was quite an accomplishment. Sad to say, not many professionals can reach clients with such a disorder, but between the three of us on the staff caring as much as we did, and responding so supportively, including us talking him into moving to his relatives' in the big city and staying in school and graduating, and then our very supportive attendance at his graduation, he got that far. He was a wonderful young black man that the three of us white psychiatric and social work professionals "took under our wings" so-to-speak, that I pray now as I talk about him that he has done well over the last, maybe 15 to 20 years since we saw him. Having told this story, I can't say that I'm an "expert" at handling self-mutilating individuals. I'm not. Somehow I could get to the story of his life while doing an overall evaluation, and treated the substance of the problems in his life, and attended to the symptom of self-mutilation as well, and succeeded there. Could I succeed again if I were still in practice? I don't know. But I'm glad you asked your question since it brought back good memories of a wonderful young man who's hopefully in his mid-to-late 30's now and living a good life, and the wonderful work those two psychiatric nurses did with me when we went waaaayyyyyyyyyy beyond ordinary care, and took that young man to at least one level of success in his life. Thanks for asking your question. God Bless you.

Answer 9

This website can help, I used it. Good luck.
www.helpmyhead.com

Answer 10

make self-destrucitve threats, experienced any emotional or physical trauma, posted weird stuff ony myspace or xanga or facebook...