What Is Self-Injury?

There are a number of behaviors that fall into the category of self-harm. Self-mutilation and other self-injury behaviors are not necessarily suicide attempts. Self-harm is the act of causing deliberate injury, illness or pain to your own body for a variety of emotional and mental reasons. Some self-harm acts can include the following:

• Cutting arms, legs, or other body parts with a sharp instrument such as a razor blade, a knife or a pair of scissors
• Burning with a flame or by using harsh chemicals
• Intentionally taking drugs or alcohol in an effort to cause physical harm or cover emotional and mental wounds
• Pulling hair out systematically
• Eating disorders

Not all self-harming behaviors are an effort to gain attention. Your loved one who has been self-mutilating may go to great lengths to cover injuries.

Recognizing the Symptoms of Self-Mutilation

The symptoms of self-injury can vary depending on the types of negative behaviors that your loved one is participating in. Some of the symptoms of self-harm may include the following:

• Unexplained cuts, burns or bruises
• Scars and fresh wounds
• Intentional overdoses or binge drinking without the intent of suicide
• Wearing long-sleeved shirts or long pants in hot weather
• Defensive attitudes about injuries and wounds

Your loved one may make up excuses or play off injuries as a result of being careless and clumsy. Self-harm and alcoholism or self-harm and drug abuse are often seen together. As your loved one sinks deeper into a negative emotional spiral, their alcoholism, drug abuse and self-harming behaviors are going to intensify.

Getting Treatment for a Loved One Who Self-Injures

If you have noticed some of the symptoms of self-harm in your loved one, then it is important that you reach out to get that person specialized treatment. Without effective treatment for self-mutilation and other self-injury behaviors, your loved one is going to intensify self-harming efforts. Call our toll-free helpline to learn about treatment programs that can help your loved one treat both self-harm and drug abuse or alcoholism. We can help you through every step of the recovery process from gathering information to arranging family interventions. We are here 24 hours a day to swiftly help you determine the best course of treatment for your loved one.

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Signs of Self-Harm

Some people are simply better equipped to cope with stress, relationship breakups, and expressing emotions. On the other hand, others truly struggle with these areas. Those who struggle with this are candidates for self-harm. The signs and symptoms of self-mutilation are not always clear as those who struggle with this mental illness become very skilled at hiding their scars and fresh wounds. Pay attention to the following behaviors to determine the likelihood of self-harm:

• Wearing long sleeves and long pants, even during the hottest parts of the year, to cover cuts or bruises.
• Frequent excuses about being clumsy or having cut themselves while cooking.
• Fresh cuts, burns, or other evidence of self-mutilation.
• Old scars and wounds in varying stages of the healing process.
• Depression, anxiety, and withdrawing from social situations.
• Many who self-harm find a sense of temporary relief when they cut or burn themselves, so you may notice a sudden mood improvement without an apparent cause.

It is important to note that eating disorders and even addictive drugs and behaviors can be considered forms of self-harm.

Help for Self-Harm

It is important to get your loved one treatment for self-harm. Treatment can end this emotionally and physically destructive habit. Self-harm can be highly dangerous, so treatment help is needed immediately.
Without treatment for self-injury, one’s behavior may intensify to the point where he does cause severe and potentially irreversible harm. Getting treatment for self-mutilation is just one of the steps toward becoming stronger and better able to cope with life changes, like a major relationship break-up.

Treatment for Self-Harm and a Break-Up

Call our 24 hour, toll-free helpline to speak with one of our compassionate counselors in complete confidence. Our team of professionals can help you identify the symptoms of self-harm in your loved one and can also help you find integrated treatment.

If your family member has been leaning on drugs or alcohol to self-medicate stress and emotional the upheaval from a break up, she many need help for both self-harm and drug abuse. Without effectively treating both the self-harm and drug abuse, recovery will be impossible.
Call us today; we are ready to help your loved one get well.

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What Is Self-Abuse?

Any behavior that a person performs on themselves that is deliberate, repetitive and non-lethal is considered self-abuse. The concern is that these self-inflicted behaviors could result in death, and when coupled with addiction the risk for suicide increases. The behaviors involved in self-abuse may include the following:

• Cutting
• Scratching
• Burning
• Punching self or objects
• Inserting objects in body openings
• Bruising or breaking bones
• Some form of hair pulling
• Other various forms of bodily harm

Why Do People Self-Abuse?

People who self-abuse often cannot explain why they do it, but they may engage in such behaviors for the following reasons:

• Self-abusers may feel they cannot stop
• It seems to bring a form of release
• It allows participants to feel that they have control
• Individuals may be seeking attention or help
• Self-abusers may feel that they deserve it
• Individuals may see self-abuse as a form of stress relief

Another reason a person self-abuses is that he or she uses this behavior as a coping mechanism in response to being the following:

• Over or under stimulated
• Unable to express their feeling
• Lonely
• Misunderstood
• Fearful of relationship and responsibilities

Cycle of Self-Abuse and Addiction

Many people who suffer with self-abuse are struggling to find a way to handle stress, negative feelings or an inability to deal with a variety of issues. These same challenges often lead a person to use drugs or alcohol. At the core of both self-abuse and addiction are a series of issues that the person feels drives him or her to these behaviors.

Treatment for Self-Abuse and Addiction

Many people who self-abuse believe that these behaviors are the only way to relieve negative feelings, but any relief provided will be temporary. When self-abuse and addiction are coupled, professional inpatient treatment is recommended for the following reasons:

• A person is in an environment that supports healing and recovery
• A person is allowed to focus exclusively on the issues that led to the cycle of destruction
• There are a variety of therapies available to help the person including Cognitive Behavioral

Therapy which provides the person with tools to understand the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Another therapy option is interpersonal therapy which gives a person skills to develop interpersonal relationships and understand how abusive behaviors interfere with healthy relationships.

Get Help for Self-Abuse and Addiction

Breaking a pattern of self-abuse and addiction is difficult to do alone. Understanding why you are abusing yourself and drugs is an important first step, and we can help you explore your options for treatment. Please call our toll-free helpline today. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about abuse and addiction treatment services. We are here to help.

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The Causes of Self-Mutilation

Self-mutilation provides relief from emotional pain, anxiety or numbness. The human brain has a natural mechanism for controlling pain. A complex and intricate network of chemical signals manages the flow of pain signals in the body. After injury a natural spike of chemicals called endorphins blocks those pain signals to some extent. Endorphins also provide a sort of organic “high” in the pleasure center of the brain. This is the same area that manages anxiety, controls emotions, creates and recalls memories and reinforces behaviors. Any activity that results in a stimulation of the pleasure center will be craved. In time the person loses control and must obey the urge to cause him or herself pain. There are many co-occurring behavioral and psychological characteristics that may cause, or be caused by, self-mutilation habits, and these include the following:

• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Neglect
• Dissociation
• Borderline personality disorder
• Emotional numbness

As with other compulsive behavior disorders, sometimes called “process addictions,” it can be difficult to know where one aspect of the disease ends and another begins. It can also be challenging to understand which aspects of the disorder cause the others. What is known is that this is a serious psychological illness that requires careful, professional treatment.

Cutting Can Lead to Addiction

Though cutting often happens as a result of anxiety or psychological distress, it also causes both of those things. It is common for those struggling with self-harm to unknowingly self-medicate their anxiety with substances like drugs or alcohol. The mind can easily transfer its cutting addiction to an addiction to intoxicating substances. Drugs and alcohol do not provide real relief, so the individual is left with two disorders instead of one.

Treatment for Self-Mutilation and Addiction

There are a wide variety of therapeutic approaches used to treat self-mutilation addiction. Some of these techniques include the following:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)
• Avoidance techniques
• Medication
• Support group therapy

Treatment for self-mutilation is similar to treatment for addiction. The best results often come through residential care. The accountability offered through rehab facilities combined with a focus on healing and offers the best chance for lasting recovery. The most successful programs treat self-mutilation and substance abuse issues in an integrated way. Patients struggling with these disorders must be treated body, mind and spirit.

Where to Find Help for Self-Mutilation and Substance Abuse

Our recovery counselors can help you find the best treatment for your unique needs. Call our toll-free helpline any time of day or night. We will answer your questions and help you take the first steps toward freedom from self-mutilation and substance abuse. Life is precious and short. Don’t waste another day caught in the trap of self-harm and addiction. Call today.

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What Is Self-Injury or Self-Harm?

Self-injury occurs when a person intentionally harms his or her own body. Self-injury is usually used as a way to cope with uncomfortable or distressing emotions and thoughts. It can be a repetitive behavior and some people describe becoming addicted to self-injury. There are thousands of ways to engage in self-harm. Some of the most common ways include the following methods:

• Cutting
• Burning
• Picking at scabs/preventing wound healing
• Hitting different body parts
• Pressing on body parts, causing bruising

Not surprisingly, people who self-injure often have other problems such as eating disorders (particularly anorexia and bulimia), drug addiction, alcohol addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, PTSD/trauma, borderline personality disorder or other mood disorders.

Why Would Someone Self-Harm?

No one is born knowing how to cope with stress. Those who struggle with particularly difficult childhoods or traumatic experiences may turn to self-injury as a way to cope. Mental illness may lower a person’s ability to handle stress, leading to self-injury. Substance abuse always complicates our ability to cope with emotional pain. People who self-injure describe it as a way to numb emotional pain or “tune out” emotional situations. Self-harmers typically have great difficulty expressing emotions.

How Self-Injury and Addiction Can Kill

Self-injury is usually not intended as a way to commit suicide. Unfortunately accidents do happen, and in many cases self-injury acts as a “training ground” for more dangerous behavior including suicide. Addiction works in much the same way. Most people who engage in substance abuse begin using as an attempt to ease anxiety or to deal with a greater problem. Addiction and substance abuse, especially when combined with self-injury, will greatly increase a person’s risk of death.

Get Addiction and Self-Injury Help Now

It is important to seek help immediately for this deadly combination. Both self-injury and addiction only become worse over time. We offer a 24 hour, toll-free helpline to get you started. When you call us, you will be connected with one of our caring and experienced recovery counselors who will take the time to learn more about you and connect you with support and resources that meet your needs. We can help you find treatment resources, rehab treatment, integrated rehab treatment, mental health care, family support, intervention resources, insurance coverage assistance and more. All of our calls are completely confidential. Please call now, and find out how we can help.

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Why Do People Harm Themselves?

Para-suicidal behavior (actions that can lead to suicide, but that are not deadly) and self-inflicting harm is common among those that suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD. Self-injury can also happen when a person is depressed or suffering from PTSD or bipolar disorder. People who self-injure often describe it as a way to cope with difficult emotions. People who self-harm usually are not suicidal, but self-harm can lead to suicide, overdose and other dangerous life-threatening situations.

What Is Dual Diagnosis Treatment and How Can it Help?

Substance abuse, addiction and mental illnesses often occur together. Integrated treatment works to treat both mental illness and addiction at the same time, in the same location. Integrated rehab is often used to treat depression, anxiety, personality disorders or trauma along with substance use.

Integrated treatment is evidence-based, and it provides better results than typical substance abuse treatment. Your integrated treatment may include medically supervised detox services, motivational interventions, social support and counseling along with medical interventions. Integrated treatment programs offer you the support you need after treatment as well. Outpatient treatment and alumni care help you stay connected and empowered to build a happier life.

How Specialty Therapists Can Help You Recover from Self Harm and Alcohol Abuse

Specialty treatment is the best way to defeat both your addiction and your emotional concerns. Experienced, expert therapists have extra training and credentials to help you recover more effectively. Some specialty extras you may consider include the following:

• Dialectical behavior therapy to help treat bipolar emotions, depression, self-injury and borderline personality issues
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) can help you overcome trauma and disturbing feelings without resorting to self-harm
• Targeted alcohol treatment can help you attack alcoholism at its roots all in an effective, supportive environment.
• Specialized therapy can help target your areas of concern.

End Self Harm and Alcohol Abuse

Call us now to find out how we can help you. All calls are confidential. We can even help you arrange family support and intervention services or work with your insurance provider to arrange coverage for addiction care. Call our 24 hour, toll-free helpline to find out how we can help you. Begin your recovery today; don’t run the risk of irreversible consequences.

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Why Self-Injure?

Why do people engage in self-mutilation and self-harm? Often these actions are ways to express feelings of anger, hurt or distress. Individuals who do not understand the cycle of self-harm may make the mistake of thinking self-harm is a way to gain attention. Understanding self-injury is the first (and biggest) step toward recovery. Counselors can help explore the reasons behind this behavior and provide ways for patients to feel peaceful without self-injury. Some of the more common reasons that people self-injure and do not seek help are as follow:

• The act of self-injury is usually a cry for help, even if the self-injurer keeps her or his scars hidden
• Those who self-harm are often trying to deal with past traumatic experiences
• Most self-injurers feel afraid and ashamed of the self-injuring behavior, which can prevent the person from seeking help
• Often, when a person self-harms, she or he is trying to cope with a distressing or overwhelming experience or feeling. It may be very hard for this person to ask for help
• Self-harmers usually believe that the feeling of physical pain is better than the pain of emotions

Signs and Symptoms of Self-Harm

The following are signs of self-injury:

• Unexplained scratches or bruises on the body
• Stories about injuries that do not make sense or seem made up
• The person begins to wear long-sleeved clothing or other clothing to hide wounds or scars
• Changes in eating habits
• Depression or angry outbursts
• Problems with other issues such as alcohol use or drug use, which may indicate a Dual Diagnosis

People who self-harm are usually likeable, intelligent and fun to be around. One common trait of self-harmers is they tend to want to please other people, which is why it may be so difficult for them to share uncomfortable emotions.

Treatment for Self-Harm

The most important part of treating self-harm is to keep the self-injurer safe. Self-harm is a very complicated problem and requires the aid of a caring and experienced professional to overcome. Because self-harm is a newly recognized mental health challenge, treatment options are changing every day.

Need Help for Self-Harm, Self-Injury and Self-Mutilation?

If you or someone you love is self-harming, it is time to seek help. Self-injury can be both dangerous and deadly. Because self-mutilation often gets more severe as time passes, it is important to seek help as soon as possible. Our toll-free number can provide you with the information you need. Our helpline is available 24 hours a day and is staffed by trained counselors who understand your situation. We can offer information about self-harm and resources for treatment. You owe it to yourself and your family, call us today.

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Why Self-injury?

Most people who have these types of addictions, who self-injure tend to be perfectionists, are unable to handle intense feelings, are unable to express their emotions verbally, have dislike for themselves and their bodies, and can experience severe mood swings. They may turn to self-injury as a way to express their feelings and emotions or as a way to punish themselves. Many have a history of sexual or physical abuse and find these means of coping with it is easier than dealing with the pain of emotion. Some come from broken homes, alcoholic families, etc. as well.

There are three types of self-injury process addictions. The rarest and most extreme form is Major self-mutilation. This form usually results in permanent disfigurement, i.e. castration or limb amputation. Another form is Stereo typical self-mutilation which usually consists of head banging, eyeball pressing and biting. The third and most common form is Superficial self-mutilation which usually involves cutting, burning, hair-pulling, bone breaking, hitting, interference with wound healing and any other method used to harm oneself.

Common Ways of Self-injury

The signs of self injury include:

Cutting

This type of self-injury involves making cuts or scratches on your body with any sharp object including knives, needles, razor blades or even fingernails. The arms, legs and front of the torso are most commonly cut because they are easily reached and easily hidden under clothing.

Cutting can be habit forming. It can become a compulsive behavior — meaning that the more a person does it, the more he or she feels the need to do it. The brain starts to connect the false sense of relief from bad feelings to the act of cutting, and it craves this relief the next time tension builds. When cutting becomes a compulsive behavior, it can seem impossible to stop. It’s easy to see how cutting can become an addiction, where the urge to cut can seem too hard to resist. A behavior that starts as an attempt to feel more in control can end up controlling you.

Hair-pulling (trichotillomania)
This is an impulse control disorder which at times seems to resemble a habit, an addiction, or an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The person has an irresistible urge to pull out hair from any part of their body. Hair pulling from the scalp often leaves patchy bald spots on their head which they hide by wearing hats, scarves and wigs. Abnormal levels of serotonin or dopamine may play a role in this disorder.

The combined treatment of using an anti-depressant such as Anafranil and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been effective in treating this disorder. CBT teaches you to become more aware of when you’re pulling, helps you identify your pulling habits, and teaches you about what emotions and triggers are involved in hair pulling. When you gain awareness of pulling, you can learn to substitute healthier behaviors instead.

Other Forms

• Branding – burning self with a hot object
• Friction burn – rubbing a pencil eraser on your skin
• Picking at skin or re-opening wounds (dermatillomania) – an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one’s own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused which relieves stress or is gratifying
  • Many compulsive skin picking causes are emotional or mental. Emotional trauma can lead to feelings of helplessness and insecurity. When a child is being traumatized and bullied, he or she loses the feeling of being in control of their environment.
• Hitting (with hammer or other object)
• Bone breaking
• Punching
• Head-banging (more often seen with autism or severe mental retardation)
• Multiple piercing or tattooing – may also be a type of self-injury, especially if pain or stress relief is a factor
• Drinking harmful chemicals

Self-injury Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with a self-injury addiction, we can help. Please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5635. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer your questions on self-injury treatment and addiction.

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It’s more common amongst girls to have these types of addictions but has been seen as boys as well. Children who self-injure will often battle with an eating disorder as well. They might also have a history of sexual, physical and/or emotional abuse or it may be a sign of mental illness or low self-esteem. It begins as a defense of what is going on in their personal lives and within their family. They may feel they have failed in one area of their lives and are looking for a way of taking back control.

Self-injury as a Sign for other Issues

Self-mutilation is a severe impulse control disorder that can often be associated with other psychiatric disorders. These include:

• Borderline personality disorder
• Depression
• Substance abuse (alcoholism or drug abuse)
• Eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia)
• Psychosis
• Antisocial personality disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder

On the other hand, there are “regular kids” going through the adolescent struggle for self-identity and use self-injury is a form of experimentation, similar to alcohol or drugs that are also common around this age range.

Physical Signs and Symptoms of Self-injury

Because self-harm addiction is often kept secret, it may be difficult to spot signs and symptoms. Physical self-injury symptoms may include:

• Scars, such as from burns or cuts
• Staring at or playing with scars
• Fresh cuts, scratches or other wounds
• Small, linear cuts. Sometimes words are also cut in the body
• Bruises
• Broken bones
• Head banging
• Eye pressing
• Finger or arm biting
• Pulling out one’s hair
• Picking at one’s skin
• Claiming to have frequent accidents or mishaps
• Unexplained cuts and scratches, particularly when they appear regularly. ‘The cat did it’ is a commonly used excuse

Situational Signs and Symptoms of Self-injury

Aside from physical examples that are indicative of self-injury, there are circumstantial evidences that loved ones can be suspicious of. These warning signs that an individual might be engaging in self-injury include:

• Wearing pants and long sleeves in warm weather
• The appearance of lighters, razors or sharp objects that one would not expect among a person’s belongings
• Low self-esteem
• Mood changes like depression or anxiety, out-of-control behavior
• Promiscuity
• Difficulty handling feelings
• Relationship problems
• Poor functioning at work, school or home
• Creating artwork that features a lot of black or red
• May sit with a pillow covering their legs or quickly change sitting position when someone enters the room
• Person may be withdrawn or wishes to be alone
• The person may often hold ice to their skin
• The person may draw on their arms with red marker, food coloring or paint (a sign that they are wanting help)
• The person may wear a lot of bracelets or a rubber band on the wrist that they can snap whenever they need to (another sign of wanting to stop self-injury)

How to Begin Treatment

In order for healing to take place, the user must cease the form of self-injury and allow the feelings they are avoiding to surface. It is only then that they can begin a form of counseling and therapy to start processing those feelings. Self-mutilation treatment is most beneficial with one-to-one counseling, group therapy and a daily program of recovery is implemented.

Self-injury Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with self-injury addiction, we can help. Please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5635. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer your questions on self-injury treatment and addiction.

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Self-injury Defined

Mayo Clinic staff describes self-injury as types of addictions involving harming your own body in a deliberate act of intentional behavior that occurs more than once. Those who practice self-injury indicate they experience a momentary sense of calm and a release of tension followed by guilt, shame and the return of painful emotions. While there are many ways people harm themselves, the most common is cutting. This occurs most frequently on the arms, legs and front of the torso as these areas are easily reached and can be hidden under clothing.

Most prevalent among adolescents, self-injury symptoms are difficult to spot because the injuries are often kept secret. There are signs to look for, though. Be suspicious of:

• Scars from burns or cuts
• Fresh wounds
• Wearing long sleeves or long pants even in hot weather

The emotional triggers that lead to process addictions of self-injury are complex and are generally the result of an inability to cope with deep psychological pain in a healthy way. Many of these cases involve an attempt for control and stem from past trauma including sexual abuse or rigid parenting that leaves them feeling powerless.

Individuals who self-mutilate believe their feelings are unbearable and think their only release is through physical pain. Many with this problem may also struggle with eating disorders and other emotional difficulties.

While it may not seem as serious as some other addictive behaviors, there are definite health risks. The Mayo Clinic warns that self-injury poses the risk of serious injury, infection, disfigurement or even death.

Self-mutilation Beginnings

This compulsive disorder usually begins in late childhood and early adolescence. A large number of these adolescents come from homes of:

• Alcoholism and substance abuse struggles in family members
• Violence that intimidates the individual into repressing healthy expressions of anger
• Dysfunctional relationship between the self-injurer and his parents or role models
• Loss of parent through death, divorce or abandonment

Added Dangers for Self-injury

As if the act of self-mutilation was not enough danger, there are side effects of these injuries that put the self-harmer in more danger. For example, as a tolerance for the pain builds, the self-harmer will inflict increasingly severe pain. Sometimes the injuries may develop infections which, if left untreated, may become life-threatening. And in the most severe cases, self-harm may lead to suicide.

Self-harm Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm please know there is help available. Please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5635. We are available 24 hours a day to offer help and guidance about how to deal with self-harm and finding the next step to healing.

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