Self-Harm

Self-harm is the act of hurting oneself on purpose without suicidal intent. Self-harm is not a mental health condition, but a symptom or behavior that indicates an unhealthy way of coping with emotions or feelings such as anger, emotional pain or hurt, frustration, trauma, or other emotional distress. Self-harm usually involves cutting or burning one’s skin, but can take the form of other self-injurious behaviors such as punching or hitting oneself, piercing the skin, picking at wounds, scratching, pulling out hair, or banging one’s head. Once an individual begins to engage in self-harm, it is difficult to stop, as the person feels some type of release of emotions from engaging in the behavior.