Written by: Saloni Sinha
Everyone of us reading this has gone through something or the other, at least once- a heartbreak, a failure or maltreatment by significant others, consistent self-loathing or simply wondering if life and existence make sense at all. These thoughts may be common, doesn't sound like real issues right? "Happens to everyone"? That's true. But what doesn't happen to everyone is what follows, if these persist.
Here is PART ONE:
What is self-harm?
Self-harm is the deliberate action of causing harm (like cutting, scratching, burning, hair pulling, skin picking, biting etc.) to oneself and is a very dangerous sign of emotional distress.
Why people do this?
It is not as simple as we think. The causal factors could be many, ranging from internal pressures, like a negative self-image or self-blaming, external pressures like conflict-ridden familial or social life.
To escape the negative feelings that such life situations cause and to cope with such stressors, people often resort to self-harm. Some harm themselves to punish themselves for what's going on in their lives, and believe that they "deserve" the pain. A lot of people engaging in such behaviour have claimed that the sight of blood trickling out makes them "feel alive” because they feel dead and numb on the inside.
Is self harm = suicide?
Logically, self-harm looks much like a suicide attempt, doesn't it? Prima facie, suicide and self-harm may look similar, because both involve deliberate action to physically harm the self. But a thin line separates them. That line is of the 'intent' that underlies both the concepts.
What it means is that person who is suicidal simply wants to "end his/her life", i.e., dying seems like the only way out to bring the problems to an end, for once and for all. On the contrary, self-reports of people who engage in self-harm suggest that their reasons for doing so are quite different. With self-harm, the intent is one of trying to "find relief" and release oneself from emotional pain and distress that he/she encounters in daily life.
For example, while some of us may distract ourselves or just 'cry-it-out' to feel better at the moment, a person who's been self-harming may derive that feeling of momentary elation and relief by hurting oneself.
But this shouldn't deter us from considering self-harm as a serious problem. Studies show that nearly 60% of self-harmers, if left unassisted, go on to commit suicide later in life.This difference between suicidal behaviour and self-harm has also been formally acknowledged in the latest version of DSM, which is the diagnostic manual used by clinicians and mental health practitioners. The DSM-5 classifies self-harm under the label of 'non-suicidal self-injury disorder' (NSSID).
Intentionally or not, self-harm may be a way to express an indescribable pain, a desperate call for care and help. After a point, self-harm becomes the learned behaviour, a maladaptive and habitual coping strategy, to deal with personal issues. From this perspective, it wouldn't be wrong to say that self-harm can develop into a serious addiction, and a very threatening one...