Why do people harm themselves?

Answer 1

Some people use self-harm as a way to express things they cannot speak. Some people might think that self harming is so that they receive attention, no they do not, in fact they try to cover their wounds. Self harm only provides temporary relief so they often self harm.

AnswerIt depends on the person, but I would do it to punish myself for doing something i regret. Other people would do it because they wanted attention (not most, but some). And a lot of the time i think people would do it because they have difficulty expressing their bottled-up emotions and would release them in a physical way that wouldn't hurt anyone but themselves.

Can be mental illness, stress, grief, anxiety, self doubt, guilt, to feel real, to relax, and most commonly depression.

AnswerI suffer from this problem, or whatever it's called, and I really wish I didn't. I can tell you what it seems like to my point of view. Below is a small story that is true. I normally don't talk about these issues with anyone but this is anonymous so I might as well tell.

"I'm walking up to the teacher as she hands me my test for social studies. I walk back to my seat and don't look at it. The boy who sits next to me starts to tease me and starts calling me names."

I don't have anger problems but sometimes I can get so angry, I want to hit anything or anyone.

"I breathe slowly. This has happened before, just calm down. I turn over my test and stare. I got a 12 out of 32."

How did this happen? I studied so hard, I tried so hard!

"I turn it back over. Unfortunately, the boy next to me had read it. He started t make fun of me because of my grade. I turn around and blink. I always blink simultaneously when I feel an urge to cry. The teacher assigns a computer assignment that we have worked on for at least a week. I grab a notebook and a pencil. A sharp pencil."

My school I go to now is not really fun. The people there are mean, selfish, (hey, we all are sometimes) and don't like me. Well, at least I had about 5 friends out of 600 kids.

"Come on, Lydia, the computer is ready!" my best friend, Alyssa says. She shows me the computer and I log on. I feel a bit more relaxed. I sighed and smiled. The teacher walks out of the room and the person next to me, Henry, laughs at me and calls me a hypocrite. I never get too upset about this. I shrug. He said something, I forgot what it was, it was really mean or something. I got really mad. I just let my other friend, Reganne take over and type. I turn around and feel my pencil."

Sometimes I think I'm emo. I get upset about stuff like sometimes I want myself to die and other stuff. I'm sad about this. I'm only 11 and I have problems like this. I just want this to end.

" I grab my pencil and rake it down my arms. I keep doing it on one arm and then the other. Once I feel the pain, I calm down. My arms were now scratched and pounding. I was shaking, but then i stopped. I went up to Alyssa and sighed. "Let's get to work," I said. Alyssa didn't move. "What the *%^* did you do to your arms?" she whispered. "I looked at them. They were red, but not bleeding."

I don't understand why I even did it. I do it sometimes when my mom gets mad. I take it all out on my body as if its the problem. I don't want attention. I just want myself to stop being mad.

"Oh... umm, nothing. It's noting you need to worry about," I stammer. Later on I told her about it and she understood. What a good friend, that Alyssa.

I don't like to tell anyone about my condition. Er, that's what I call it. I don't want to call it my problem. It sounds like I'm mean and get mad all the time. To tell you the truth, I don't get mad very often. I mean I do but I only do it when I get steamed.

"For the rest of the day I tried to hide my arms. I didn't want anyone to see them. I put my jacket on, even though it was pretty warm and I didn't stretch my arms out. My jacket is pretty small and they wouldn't stretch as much as my arms would."

There's a kid in my class named Andrew who has anger management problems. I mean conditions. He hits me sometimes. But he stopped doing it when he met Elena. (she's a cute girl)

"Finally, I went home. I did everything I usually did. I even took off my jacket. The blood was gone and you couldn't see any evidence that I had done anything if you just glanced at my arms. If you studied them you could see redness. I'm Asian so I have dark skin. My mom sometimes notices my arms. I tell her it's my cat, because my cat is rapid and it likes to scratch people."

So that's my view of one day that my condition got the best of me.

Answer

People (including myself) self harm usually because they either feel numb, and want to feel SOMETHING, or they do it to stop all the feelings that start to build up inside them, and then if it reaches a certain point, they feel like they're gonna explode, so they stop it before that happens.

And Lydia, I know exactly how that feels, your story actually upset me a little because Ive been there before. I'm thirteen, and I'm gonna tell you my story, and maybe it'll help you a little.

Okay, well, i used to self harm when everything got to be too much. Well, one day, I was in the bathroom, doing this, and my mom walked in because our door doesn't lock. Well, needless to say, i slammed the door, and cleaned up like i always do. Then the next day, I went to school, and my friends had gotten worried about me, so they told guidance on me. Next thing you know, the councilor had told my mom, and it was one of the most painful days of my life. Now, I've been forced to stop, and to tell you the truth, if I hadnt been caught, I still would do it. Even now, some days, it takes all i have to be not do it. I suggest you try to stop, or try every other option before you do it, and if you don't want to stop, or cant, I would suggest using something other then a pencil, because of the risks with it. Use something cleaner, and just carry it with you, like a new pencil sharper blade, if you want to draw blood, or a duller pocket knife if you don't. Just make sure any thing you use is CLEAN! Other wise you might have to go to the hospital and no one wants that. Oh yea, and you're not emo, emo is a fashion style, and a music genre, don't listen to anyone if they call you that, just say "sure, whatever makes you happy friend" and leave. And your thoughts, don't worry about them unless you try to act on them, then, call a friend and tell them, they might be able to help.

I have once this year slit below my wrist. I have a big scar across my arm, people (friends/family) ask how i did it and i say my rabbit scratched me. I hide it from everyone because i would hate anyone to find out. I'm 14, i did it when i was 13. I fell out with my mate, she is nasty and when we fell out I stressed myself over and over in my mind of what she will do to me (she wouldn't physically hurt me but emotionally). I couldn't deal with it, almost all my life i stressed because I hung around with the wrong people( the nasty people). Anyway I don't know why i did it, I remember coming home from school and going straight into the shower were i cried and cried and when I got out I still cried- I was non stop crying for about 3 hours and between those hours I took a pair of my own scissors from my room and I kept digging it into me, it didn't bleed it was as red as blood though. Anyway, the same night the girl who I fell out with came to my door. We made up and we were friends again on the same night. I'm still mates with her now, she still stresses me out and I can never confront her because I find it really hard to do that to someone I feel threatened by. So cutting yourself is a very low point in your life, it's when you feel you just cannot cope and you feel it is easier just to die than have the emotional pain inside. I think I was stupid and I hope I'll never do it again.

It depends on the person, but I would do it to punish myself for doing something i regret. Other people would do it because they wanted attention (not most, but some). And a lot of the time i think people would do it because they have difficulty expressing their bottled-up emotions and would release them in a physical way that wouldn't hurt anyone but themselves.

Answer 2

I have semi-personal experience with this. My cousin is suicidally depressed, and cuts and burns himself. We have always been close since we were little kids, and I am one of the few people he confides in. He told me he does it because the pain is a momentary distraction from life.

People self harm for many reasons. I've had many up close and personal dealings with self harm and self-harmers. It is an extremely destructive and addictive behavior.

People self harm to either: Punish themselves, relieve the pain they feel inside, make themselves feel...Etc. It can be many reasons.

The cutting releases a chemical that causes a slight high, that lasts for a moment. I'm not sure why this happens...but it does. What the cutters don't focus on is how it will scar them for life...and that cutting isn't and will never be the answer. It is something they eventually regret.

In closing, cutting is destructive and a REALLY dumb thing to do....no matter how you feel.

If you know anyone who does this....don't keep this a secret....get them help...because it only gets worse.

Answer 2

When you are so sad and depressed the physical pain is easier to deal with than the emotional pain you just do it. It just looks easy. I still struggle with it its addicting

Much like ↑ said people usually that are the ones being bullied or have family issues and are just so down to the point that they wish that it was over look for ways more easier to deal with the pain because they just aren't sure of any other way to "feel good". When you cut your self or inflict pain in any other way your brain releases these endorphins that give a sort of "hi" like taking drugs except not.