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Eating Disorders |
Substance Abuse |
PTSD |
Sex Addiction |
Gambling |
Alcoholism |
Self-Harm |
Self-Harm
Approximately 25 percent of individuals who suffer from eating disorders, alcohol and
Substance use addictions also participate in self-harming behavior. In and of itself
the practice of an eating disorders and addictions could also be considered self-harming
behavior. Self-harm is defined as the act of causing self-injury to one’s own body.
Self-harm is also referred to as self-injury, self-abuse, self-inflicted violence,
self-mutilation and para-suicide. Similar to eating disordered behavior and addictions,
the self-harming behavior is participated in to help the individual cope with, take control
of, block out and release unwanted feelings and emotions. The most common act of self-harm
is cutting. Self-harming individuals usually inflict injury on their wrists, upper arms and
inner thighs. The location of body marking is often in a place that can be hidden to avoid
detection by others. Other forms of self –harming behavior include:
Although individuals who self-harm may have suicidal thoughts, the act in itself is
not intended as a form of suicide but rather as a means of dealing with uncomfortable
emotions. In essence, self-harming behavior is a dysfunctional coping mechanism.
Self-injury’s goal is to help the individual dissociate from the immediate tension
they are experiencing. Self-harmers speak about feeling overwhelmed with uncontrollable
emotional thoughts and beliefs that are excessively painful. Unable to face this dire
pain, they channel the uncontrollable pain into a different type of pain. One that although
is still painful, seems to them understandable and more importantly, controllable. Through
self-harming behavior, the real feelings are temporarily avoided and replaced by the new
distracting pain. The pain from self-harming, although it hurts, is a familiar pain and not
mysterious and scary like the original emotions and feelings. Some individuals who self-harm
describe overall feelings of numbness and not belonging. For them the act of seeing their own
blood when they self-harm helps them to feel alive and not dead inside, confirming their
existence. Self-harming can also serve as a form of self-punishment for those who feel an
inner sense of shame and guilt. Besides the obvious physical problems that self-harming
causes, the problem with self-harming behavior is that the
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