What do you define Self-Harm as???
 

I think we all know what the textbook definition of self-harm is.

But to you, what is self-harm?

For me, self-harm is the medicine I use to make me better, to stop the pain and loneliness I suppose.

What about you?

It's a means whereby I inflict pain on myself, or a visible mark of my emotional distress. It's a pain I can control, it's a hurt that can be seen. To some extent this is reparative of my past, in a twisted kind of way.

To me it was hurting myself in some way physically to deal with all the emotions I was dealing with

Hurting myself to punish myself or to get relief and control over my feelings..

to me self harm is the release of emotions. its as much a part of me as my heart that beats.

relief of stresses...an outlet from reality...a representation that my pain is real.

For me, SI used to be my survival mechanism...as much of a contradiction as that may seem to be...

A survival technique. Something to keep the waves calm, so to speak. Stop me feeling happy, stop me feeling sad. Now it has been taken away, I have to feel emotion.

My SI is cutting burning or bruising for punishment or to calm down

I guess self-harm is in the name, harming the self intentionally.


on a related note, does it have to be physical in nature? What about when people intentionally get into fights to punish or harm theirselves? or when people purposely neglect their health? Or push people away to intensionally cause them to be alone? etc.

I agree with shadow-light.. I don't think self-harm is just a physical act to hurt oneself.

I don't take my medicine to punish myself, to make me sick, to hurt myself even more.
I can't control the illness, but I can control the meds.

... but i think that self-harm is anything that causes harm to yourself. Be it cutting, ODs, EDs, skipping meds... Anything.

Self harm is my grounding technique.....

For me, self-harm is something to express my emotions, something to make me realize I am alive, something to make me feel, to remind me the past is real, something to hold on to, fall back on and to know I am not completely empty.

exactly this.

for me it is a way to deal with the situation, once I have SH'd I often feel like the situation is dealt with because i have done something about it. At other times it relieves the anxiety, I don't know how else to get rid of the intense emotions - even if SH only stops them for a short while it's worth it

selfharm is apart of me its my best friend i need it but a kinda friend i hate and a friend that never lets mme down
-it makes me feel pure
-it helps me to feel
-it helps me to escape for that momment intime if not planned forever

self harm is how i express my frustration with all my inadequacies.

Self harm for me... Is a way i can control my body, when i feel i have no control, it releases the emotions am feeling without taking it out on other people ( sadly i take it out on myself) Though i will and have also used self harm for punishment but also for any emotion i have felt before even feeling happy. I can always count on self harm, which is quite sad but its true.

Though i agree with other people self harm can come in other forms not just by cutting/ burning eg staying in a abusive relationship, drinking, smoking etc ( I arent saying everyone who drinks or smokes self harms but that there some of the other ways people self harm)

Self-harm helps me deal with overhwelming emotions, serves as a way to punish myself and something that calms me down when I am anxious.

Self harm helps me get away from myself and everything else. when i cut, there isnt anything but pain and blood. all i can see and feel is pain and blood.

Well.....honestly, like many here I see self harm as a way of coping with the disappointments life throws at you. I don't think it makes one weak in anyway, but yes, I suppose it's the wrong thing to do because after all you are destroying your body.
Self harm makes me feel as though I'm in control, it helps me feel real because I'm always off into my own world and I need something to bring me back.
Am I a masochist? Well, yes but here's the twist-I don't fancy being vulnerable.
I punish myself partly because I hate myself and partly because it's what gives me the rush I need to feel alive here, in reality, this world.
I feel pretty with all my scars.


~I've just been very honest here, sorry if it put anyone off.

And for anyone wondering....I'm here to recover. Yes, I do see a psychiatrist, have been doing so for years.

i guess i do it because i feel numb, lifeless. not sad of hopless, just sorta there, but not there, you know what i mean?gotta make sure im still as real as i think i am

This is something I have been questioning lately.

I always thought self harm is my cutting and sometimes burning. Perhaps it's not just this. When I restrict food or overeat and purge, is that not self harm? Am I just using all of these things so I can focus on something else or just because I want to hurt myself? I guess self harm may be anything causing harm to our bodies as a means of escape or coping.