Do you think you have grown up with self injury
 

I was thinking last night i tell people i started self injury at 12
but thinking about it
I scratched myself with a paper clip at 10
Banged head on desks at 7
Banged head on wall at 6/7

So do you think you've been born with self injury in ya

Sorry if its not clear

Huh, I was gonna reply no to this but actually looking back
I can't remember a time when I haven't SId in some way

I mean I started cutting when I was 15 but Ive been scratching myself/banging my head on things/slapping myself ect ect for as long as I can remember.

i've done SI-ish stuff most of my life. i remember odd stuff like slamming my head into something one time and spraining my neck..that was like 3rd grade...but yeah.

I guess so. I cut when I was like... 12/13 then stopped and did it very occasionally, till I was 17 when it got pretty bad.
But before that I would hit my head on walls when I was 9/10.

That's quite a possibility. When I was younger when I got mad I'd bite myself until it started hurting(this is like 2-5 maybe). And one time when I was like 6 or 7 there was a knife on a cabinet (it was by my room and I was looking for bath fizzies hm) and I wondered what'd it feel like to cut myself with it so I made it look like an accident by making it fall off and hit my arm. It made a small cut and I was a little confused about it....like I felt happy I'd done it but...idk. It's hard to explain lol.

Very much so, unconciously.

I guess in a way, yeah I have. I just don't think I was always aware of it at the time. When I was 4-7 I slammed my head into walls, bite myself or scratched myself really hard whenever I was upset or felt I'd been 'bad'. I started scratching with knives when I was 10. I didn't actually cut to the point of seriously bleeding/scaring until I was 13. That was over four years ago, and it's been a struggle everyday since.

I agree with Dan, i think that unconciously, although we are not always aware of it. Yes.

That's interesting... I started cutting at 13, but I used to dig my fingernails into my skin when I was younger and I still revert back to that if I am in a place where I can't cut and I need to relieve some stress... I never really thought of that as self injury but looking back on it... maybe it was.

I remember when I was really young, I would bite my arm. I would dig my fingernails really hard into my skin as well, for actually a few years and up until I learned about SI. I would also squeeze ice cubes or snap my bracelet, which I find a bit ironic. And there's more that I can't think of right now, I'm sure. Huh...I've never thought of it that way, of those things as SI...interesting thread you have here.

Well, once when I was around 13, I found a certain type of knife and wanted to see if it was sharp. It was. I don't remember it hurting a lot though.

When I was really little (I remember doing it in the church I went to before my parents split, and that was the summer between 1st and 2rd grades), I would bite myself until it left a mark.

same with me. never cut til 12 or 13 but i used to hurt myself when i was way younger in other ways. i also had an eating disorder (well early signs of one) at like 9. and i found out recently mymother used to SI and be anarexic

Thinking about it, I have done it all along in different ways yes. Scary realization.

thinking about it in a way I have although I wasn't really aware of it at the time. When I was younger I used to scratch myself or dig my fingernails into my arms to try and leave a mark. Also when I was about 9/10 I remember I used to slap myself.

I don't know if i believe i was born with it in me, but i know i been hurt myself (headbutting things, chucking myself down stairs, hitting myself etc.) since i was about 6 as thats like the furthest i can remember back but the difference was that i wasn't aware of what i was doing so i wouldn't exactly say that was self harm because that is purposely harm yourself and i wasn't conciously doing that maybe i was subconciously but i don't know.

Amy x

these are intresting :)

I've been SIing since I was in sixth, or perhaps it was fourth or fifth, grade.

But I don't think I really did all that much SI behavior before then, but I don't quite remember.

Has it really been that long?

This is so weird I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I don't know if it was all done conciously so maybe that's not SH, but I can definitely remember hurting myself way back. I remember burning myself when I was like 5, and banging my head sort of on purpose to see what people would do. Then I started hitting myself and cutting way back before I even knew what SH was - I was 13 by then, but had lived quite a sheltered life really.

I guess if you have that kind of personality where you don't (initally) see hurting yourself as taboo etc, then you will probably begin experimenting quite early on.

Wow. I hadn't really thought about this before now. but like a lot of others whove already posted, i remember harming myself but not consciously. as long back as i remember i have picked at my skin - whether its was dry or completely fine. i also used to bite my hand too. ive always had problems with eating. whatever happened though didnt turn to anything "serious" til I was about 15.

Well thats my input, to be fair i don't know what my holistic opinion is on this, but im interested in reading other peoples views, see how similiar we all can be.

take care all
xx