what is wrong with a person who self harms?

Question

People who engage in self harm typically do so by cutting themselves. However, there are other forms of self injury. Some people burn their own skin to a point where they have second and third degree burns. If a person engages in such harmful behavior that is not so common as cutting is it more serious? What can be done to help a person who self harms ?What could be wrong with the person who self injurs to this extent?

Answer 1

Here are some excerpts from previous similar questions that I've answered that you may find helpful:

There are multiple reasons why people self-mutilate and each case needs to be explored individually. The most common reason is that it occurs during a dissociative state and assists people who have been traumatized with achieving a state of emotional numbness and you hear it described as soothing for them. The physiological basis for it stems from the release of endorphins-the brain's natural painkillers-which function much like opiates and dull the experience of emotional pain. Other reasons include the opposite rationale-people who feel numb emotionally and who have shut down will self-mutilate in order to feel something and remember they are alive. Others do it for self-punishment and feel relief from guilt or shame and see the letting of blood as a way to purge themselves of guilt. It may be a way of re-enacting and attempting to master early traumatic experiences. There are also folks who do it as a way to cope with unrelenting chronic physical pain from other sources as it creates an alternative pain that distracts them from the chronic pain (think of the principle behind how a TENS unit works). In more rare instances it can be a response to psychotic states where folks are responding to command hallucinations or believe they are purging themselves from some evil inside them. There are other less common reasons, depending on the form of self-mutilation (eye enucleation, castration, etc.) that tend to be symbolic in nature. But most commonly it is done in response to increased feelings of tension with which the individual cannot cope and it becomes a way for them to dissociate their emotional pain and achieve an emotional numbing. The goal of treatment is to fully understand the reasons that sustain the behavior and in the latter case (the most common) to help people develop affect tolerance and the ability to cope with and soothe their emotional pain in healthier ways.

I'm a therapist and I agree with all the folks here who speak from personal experience that you need to speak with a professional that can help you explore healthier alternatives. The longer you wait, the harder it gets, so please seek some assistance. Cutting really only works for a while and eventually it'll lose it's charm and you may find yourself cutting deeper and more often in order to achieve the same effect.

Answer 2

I use to cut my self and everyone said it was for attention !WRONG some people it might be but some need help like i did i started cutting at age 10 and iam now 50 it is aproblem not just an attention getter for everyone i hide it for years no one knew but me

Answer 3

They feel that they can't "feel" anything. Pain gives them pleasure because they "feel" it. They are not attention seekers as the don't complain about it and keep it to themselves. They get addicted to the sensation, much as someone would cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex, and so on. Self harm is in the same class of disorder as knuckle cracking, tattooing and or piercing addiction, cosmetic surgury addiction, and the like. Treatment would be like treating anything else...get to the source of the problem.

Why can't they "feel"?
What do they want to "feel"?

Answer 4

self-mutilation is something that needs attention. it is not normal that someone hurts himself by cutting or slicing some parts of his body. he might be in dire need for attention. he must be persuaded to seek professional help. some people even go to the extent of attempting or even commiting suicide just to get the attention that he needs.

Answer 5

I think that yes there is some thing wrong with them but I also think that they just nedd some TLC tender love and care and some people just go through so much they dont know how to handle it I also think that they need some one to talk to

Answer 6

on Saturday i cutted my wrist and one of my vein got broken so my dad and mom fix it at home ( there both doctors ) and now i cannot use my left arm
it lost alot of blood and it's hurts too

i did that becuz my dad abuse me

Answer 7

Looking for attention.