Why is self harm “wrong”

@anonyhorse64711

Hey there! I think that’s a really great question, why is self harm bad? We hear from many people that it’s not a healthy way to cope, but not many explain why. I hear you say that because your method of self-harm doesn’t seem too severe, it’s difficult to figure out why you shouldn’t continue. After all, it serves a purpose in a way, doesn’t it? No one would self harm if it didn’t provide even a modicum of relief. 

When someone self-harms, it stimulates the brain’s natural opioid system. This is why you might feel brief relief. Because this part of the brain is activated, repeatedly, self harm actually begins to take on many of the psychological and biological attributes of an addiction. Until it becomes one. Until the shallow marks get infected, get deeper, or you find your life revolving around self-harm. It might seem benign because you can’t always see the harm it’s causing to your body and mind. 

That relief is real. And that can leave us rationalizing hurting our own bodies, because for a second, it helps. That mental pain you are hoping to escape when you self harm doesn’t go anywhere. It goes down the road, building up, becoming a larger issue because it was never really addressed. 

Self harm provides immediate relief from mental pain, but does a lot more damage in the long run. I know sometimes “the long run” doesn’t feel like it matters, because you’re hurting now. But the relief is temporary, and all the pain you don’t want to feel, it doesn’t actually go away. It gets bigger, and the self harm gets bigger with it, because that’s the only way you’ve learned to treat the pain. 

I’m proud that you’ve gone about two months without self-harming! I know those urges get intense sometimes, and we can ask ourselves, “is it really that bad?” Or, “It’s not that bad right now, and I won’t let it get worse.” But our bodies and minds were never meant to cope with hurt by hurting more. I hear you’re doing your best, everything you can, including self harm, just to feel better. No one can blame you for wanting to feel less mental pain. And I hope maybe some of your original question has been answered. 

@anonyhorse64711

Hey there! I think that’s a really great question, why is self harm bad? We hear from many people that it’s not a healthy way to cope, but not many explain why. I hear you say that because your method of self-harm doesn’t seem too severe, it’s difficult to figure out why you shouldn’t continue. After all, it serves a purpose in a way, doesn’t it? No one would self harm if it didn’t provide even a modicum of relief. 

When someone self-harms, it stimulates the brain’s natural opioid system. This is why you might feel brief relief. Because this part of the brain is activated, repeatedly, self harm actually begins to take on many of the psychological and biological attributes of an addiction. Until it becomes one. Until the shallow marks get infected, get deeper, or you find your life revolving around self-harm. It might seem benign because you can’t always see the harm it’s causing to your body and mind. 

That relief is real. And that can leave us rationalizing hurting our own bodies, because for a second, it helps. That mental pain you are hoping to escape when you self harm doesn’t go anywhere. It goes down the road, building up, becoming a larger issue because it was never really addressed. 

Self harm provides immediate relief from mental pain, but does a lot more damage in the long run. I know sometimes “the long run” doesn’t feel like it matters, because you’re hurting now. But the relief is temporary, and all the pain you don’t want to feel, it doesn’t actually go away. It gets bigger, and the self harm gets bigger with it, because that’s the only way you’ve learned to treat the pain. 

I’m proud that you’ve gone about two months without self-harming! I know those urges get intense sometimes, and we can ask ourselves, “is it really that bad?” Or, “It’s not that bad right now, and I won’t let it get worse.” But our bodies and minds were never meant to cope with hurt by hurting more. I hear you’re doing your best, everything you can, including self harm, just to feel better. No one can blame you for wanting to feel less mental pain. And I hope maybe some of your original question has been answered. 

@anonyhorse64711

I guess because it's not good for your body but honestly it's not that bad I don't know. I think that as long as it makes you feel better is good. I'm not the best person to talk about this because when I do it I usually have the instinct of suiciding too and in cases like that it IS dangerous but apart from that I'm wondering too about this. Maybe because it's like a drug, when you start it's hard to stop Idk