Why do people self harm?

Question

Do you think some people do it as a cry for attention?

Answer 1

Its hard to understand why people self harm but from my experience, the main reason they do it is as a kind of release. Sounds a bit far fetched I know but I can kind of see why in a way.

It is also a type of cry for help. Some people drink, some use drugs, some people harm others and some harm themselves.

I don't think we should ever judge them though because there are always reasons why people do these things.

Answer 2

I wish I knew the answer but it must be a cry for help.

Answer 3

self-harm is done for different reasons.

very few do it to get attention.

infact most people will do anything to hide thier cuts/scars.

i seem to have the same reason as alot of self-harmers do.

i do it as an emotional release.

when i'm so upset or angry that i can't do anything be cut to relieve how i feel.

during and afterwards i feel better.

it is a form of addiction just like alcohol or drugs.

it's a way of dealing with emotions you can't handle.

for anyone with a mental illness it's very common.

all forms of depression, bipolar, schizophrenia/psychotic disorders, eating disorders...self-harm often goes along with them.

Answer 4

It can be a cry for help, some people's way of telling us they cant take any more.

Some people do it because it is a way to control what they have left when they feel that their life is out of control.

Some do it because they want attention.

But in general the people who self harm need some sort of help, either with coming to terms with something or help to stop attention seeking.

Answer 5

Their emotional pain is so severe and hidden and they need to validate it with physical visual pain.  It may seem like they are taking off emotional pressure but it is a cry for help, "please see my pain" and yet it is so very difficult to talk about verbally.  

Answer 6

I have had experience with some one close to me who self harmed. It was partially a cry for help, but one that they became ashamed of and hide away almost as completely as the emotions that were making them unhappy. They told me years after they had stopped that for them the pain of the emotion they were feeling, in their case abandonment, was physical and that the best way they found of cancelling out that pain was to create a greater physical pain. To begin with they started small but it acted in the same way as a drug, they felt better, a little light headed and almost normal but after three or four times the pain that they induced was not enough.

They were forced to up the damage they caused themselves to the point that they did a lot of physical harm, the scars for which they still carry today.

Answer 7

I reckon that some people might do it as a cry for attention.

It could also be a control issue, being one thing you could control.

Personally i dont know, but i reckon those are possible reasons

Answer 8

I used to self harm and later got diagnosed with bi-polar and got told self harm can be part of it,i take lithium now so i stopped doing it. You should go and see the doctor or it can get out of hand.  

Answer 9

i'm not a self harmer but some people do it releve emotional pain and others just do it for attention.

Answer 10

For attention and to express self loathing. I did it in college for a year or so and am embarrassed about it today. I was such a mess.

Answer 11

A person who self-harms is likely to have gone through very difficult, painful experiences as a child or young adult. At the time, they probably had no one they could confide in, so didn't receive the support and the emotional outlet they needed to deal with it. The experience might have involved physical violence, emotional abuse, or sexual abuse. They might have been neglected, separated from someone they loved, been bullied, harassed, assaulted, isolated, put under intolerable pressure, made homeless, sent into care, into hospital or to other institutions.

Experiences like these erode self-esteem. Emotions that have no outlet may be buried and blocked completely out of awareness. If a trusted adult betrays or abuses them, and there are no other witnesses, children will often blame themselves. They turn their anger inwards. By the time they become adults, self-injury can be a way of expressing their pain, punishing themselves, and keeping memories at bay.

There is often an absence of pain during the act of self-injury, rather like the absence of sensation that often occurs during abuse or trauma. The body produces natural opiates, which numb it and mask the emotions, so that little is felt or realised consciously. A badly traumatised person may end up feeling quite detached from their feelings and their body. Some may injure themselves to maintain that sense of being separate, and to convince themselves that they aren't vulnerable. Others may injure themselves in order to feel something and know that they are real and alive.

There can often be myths and negative attitudes surrounding self-harming and they exist even in the healthcare industry. Professionals can often make assumptions as to why someone is self-harming and therefore how to treat them. There can be instances of healthcare professionals with an unsympathetic attitude to someone who comes to them with injuries; for example, believing that a person who is cutting themself is causing their own injuries and therefore wasting the time of the nurse who has to stitch their wounds. NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) produces guidelines on the treatment of self-harm, explaining the need for exploring the underlying reasons someone may be self-harming, rather than just the self-harming behaviour itself.

Answer 12

I did it as a cry for attention, yes.

But it also made me feel better, as I hated myself and was harming this horrible person.

Also, the physical pain made me forget about the emotional and mental pain that was going on inside me just for a few minutes.

It's addictive when you feel like sh*t though and it's very hard to get out of it.  

Answer 13

for every person that self harms there is a different reason for them doing so.a lack of self esteem caused or brought on by failed friendships,family breakdowns,physical or mental abuse.i personally think that self abusers do so to take their minds off negative thoughts or memory's that they wrongly blame themselves for,there certainly have to be strong emotions involved,its not easy to harm yourself without good cause,..as for a cry for attention,i think we all have different ways of asking for help when we are troubled,sometimes to ask vocally for help means talking about our troubles,..this can be so hard that it may as well be impossible,self harming might be an easier way to attract attention,..but i might be wrong.  

Answer 14

I have known people like this and what I have seen,  its partly doing it for attention and also its like a drug to make them "feel better". A person who was a self harmer told me that it takes a lot of angry out of it by doing it and helped them to relax.

Answer 15

They're a sandwich short of a picnic, a can short of a six-pack...they're not all there!

Answer 16

the pain of cutting also releases endorphins in the brain which gives a feel good factor, unfortunately people can get a certain addiction to the endorphins it then also becomes a vicious circle