To me Self Harm means you physically hurt yourself to deal with emotional pain....it can almost be addicting....for me self harm is getting my razor out , sliding it across my arm ....i lean my head back and endure the pain but feel it wash away , i listen to my favorite songs and escape this battlefield. its a battlefield , i havent cut in 3 weeks and as life gives me more challenges it gets harder to resist.
Personally,I've had the most trouble with cutting. To me, cutting is a way of making myself cry when I can't physically release emotions any other way. The scars are also a way of validating that my pain is and was real when my parents dismissed it.
A way to drag myself back to reality when my thoughts and emotions move too quickly. I know its not good, but it works...
Everything that you do and it's risky for yourself.
TW For me self-harm can be two things. On the one hand I use it to escape mental pain by turning it into physical pain and therefore making it easier to deal with. And secondly, it's a means to out my anger and frustration. The latter is usually the most damaging to my body, as it all happens in a rage and the cuts are usually far deeper than intended.
changing my opinion slightly.
self harm is a way of coping. some people do it to remember, others to forget. it takes our mind off everything else and numbs it into a painful bliss. it's intoxicating. it's addicting. it lets our emotions out without having to verbally say it. it's much like nicotine.
Self harm means inflicting pain on yourself, you can't cope with the emotional pain or strains of everyday life so you cope by turning that pain into physical pain. Of course it isn't good for you and it'd be so much better if you just spoke to someone
I have a wonderful girlfriend I speak to all the time, and she knows whenever I've harmed myself. She will even help me patch up the wounds when they're particularly bad. But talking to her (or anything else, for that matter) has never made it any easier to not hurt myself. It's an addiction, it can't be replaced so easily, unfortunately.
Self harm means relief. It means I get to catch a breath when I'm suffocating. A moment just for me even though everyone says I get all the attention. A pause from hating the way I look. I can express pain and still be strong like everyone else. The pain momentarily flows out and I can just stop whatever this is.
It disappoints and angers me to hear that someone is doing it. I wonder what could be going so horribly wrong in their lives that they can't fix. I am incapable of harming myself, thus my demons manifest differently. But my youngest sister has cut before and it just makes me feel like I'm the biggest failure for not being able to help more.
Personally I believe it means to cause any purposeful harm to yourself. Like cutting, burning, scratching, bleeding, sexual harm etc. If it's purposeful and hurts you and you 'choose' to do it then I consider it self-harm.