Cutting (scars) of Harming Self and Coping
…thinking about hurting yourself?
You may even be afraid that deep down inside, part of you does want to act out, and that's why you're thinking about it so much. Thoughts like these may be a sign that anxiety is opening the door for a disorderly approach to your life’s choices. Help is available!
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Self-harm support
Hours: Available 24 hours
- AND -
888 Need Him
Per the Mayo Clinic, Non-suicidal self-injury, often simply called self-injury, is the act of harming your own body on purpose, such as by cutting or burning yourself. It's usually not meant as a suicide attempt. This type of self-injury is a harmful way to cope with emotional pain, sadness, anger and stress.
Self-harm is the act of deliberately harming the surface of one's own body, such as cutting or burning.
To achieve sustainable self-harm recovery and avoid the dangers of relapse, young adults need treatment, support and consistent guidance for the underlying emotional distress. It does not matter if the distress is triggered by depression, anxiety, trauma, or another mental health condition, healing the underlying issues is essential.
The thoughts you, the individual can feel are often overwhelming, but they do not define you or indicate any real intention to cause harm. Instead, they are a usually a symptom of harm, driven by fear and uncertainty rather than any actual risk.
We, Bridges, can help you with intrusive thoughts about harm. It IS an investment on your part.
Unfortunately, I have some ‘personal’ experience with ‘self-harm’. One of my family members has had a history of personal abuse over the years. It is a feeling of discomfort that a by-stander is unable to settle. I know this for certain. It hurts to watch and in-turn feel hopeless and helpless.
Since this is the case from the sidelines, I know it is much worse when it is you that is experiencing the thoughts, emotions and actions.
Need to Vent? Call us. We have few people able to speak with you and hear you and guide you to get the support you may require.
While self-injury may bring a brief sense of calm and a release of physical and emotional tension, it's usually followed by guilt and shame and the return of painful emotions. I have learned life-threatening injuries are usually not intended, but it's possible that more serious and even fatal self-harm could happen.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Self-harm support
Hours: Available 24 hours
- AND -
888 Need Him
Symptoms of self-injury may include:
Scars, often in patterns.
Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises, bite marks or other wounds.
Excessive rubbing of an area to create a burn.
Keeping sharp objects or other items used for self-injury on hand.
Wearing long sleeves or long pants to hide self-injury, even in hot weather.
Frequent reports of accidental injury.
Difficulties in relationships with others.
Behaviors and emotions that change quickly and are impulsive, intense and unexpected.
Talk of helplessness, hopelessness or worthlessness.
Self-injury mostly happens in private. Usually, it's done in a controlled manner or the same way each time, which often leaves a pattern on the skin.
Examples of self-harm include:
Cutting, scratching or stabbing with a sharp object, one of the most common methods.
Burning with lit matches, cigarettes or heated, sharp objects such as knives.
Carving words or symbols on the skin.
Self-hitting, punching, biting or head banging.
Piercing the skin with sharp objects.
Inserting objects under the skin.
Most frequently, the arms, legs, chest and belly are the targets of self-injury. But any area of the body may be a target, sometimes using more than one method.
Becoming upset can trigger urges to self-injure. Many people self-injure only a few times and then stop, but for others, self-injury can become a longer term, repeated behavior.
When to see a doctor?
If you're injuring yourself, even in a minor way, or if you have thoughts of harming yourself, reach out for help. Any form of self-injury is a sign of bigger stressors that need attention.
Talk to someone you trust — such as a friend, family member, health care provider, spiritual leader, or a school counselor, nurse or teacher. They can help you take the first steps to successful treatment. While you may feel ashamed and embarrassed about your behavior, you can find supportive, caring help from people who aren't going to criticize and condemn you.
If you have a friend or family member who is self-injuring, you may be shocked and scared. Take all talk of self-injury seriously. Although you might feel that you'd be betraying a confidence, self-injury is too big a problem to ignore or to deal with alone.
Here are some ways to help.
Your child. You can start by talking with your pediatrician or other health care provider who can do an initial evaluation or make a referral to a mental health professional. Express your concern, but don't yell at your child or make threats or accusations.
Preteen or teenage friend. Suggest that your friend talk to parents, a teacher, a school counselor or another trusted adult.
Adult. Gently express your concern and encourage the person to seek medical and mental health treatment
Call your mental health provider if you're seeing one.
Contact a suicide hotline. In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or use the Lifeline Chat. Services are free and confidential.
The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the U.S. has a Spanish language phone line at 1-888-628-9454 (toll-free).
Seek help from your school nurse or counselor, teacher, or health care provider.
Reach out to a close friend or family member.
Contact a spiritual leader or someone else in your faith community.
There's not one single or simple cause that leads someone to self-injure. In general, self-injury may result from:
Poor coping skills. Nonsuicidal self-injury is usually the result of an inability to cope in healthy ways with stress and emotional pain.
Difficulty managing emotions. Having a hard time controlling, expressing or understanding emotions may lead to self-injury. The mix of emotions that triggers self-injury is complex. For example, there may be feelings of worthlessness, loneliness, panic, anger, guilt, rejection and self-hatred. Being bullied or having questions about sexual identity may be part of the mix of emotions.
Self-injury may be an attempt to:
Manage or reduce severe distress or anxiety and provide a sense of relief.
Provide a distraction from painful emotions through physical pain.
Feel a sense of control over the body, feelings or life situations.
Feel something — anything — even if it's physical pain, when feeling emotionally empty.
Express internal feelings in an external way.
Communicate feelings of stress or depression to the outside world.
Punish oneself.
Risk factors
Teenagers and young adults are most likely to self-injure, but those in other age groups do it, too. Self-injury often starts in the preteen or early teen years, when emotional changes happen fast, often and unexpectedly. During this time, teens also face increasing peer pressure, loneliness, and conflicts with parents or other authority figures.
Certain factors may increase the risk of self-injury, including:
Having friends who self-injure. Having friends who intentionally harm themselves makes it more likely for someone to begin self-injuring.
Life issues. Past experiences of neglect, sexual, physical or emotional abuse, or other traumatic events may increase the risk of self-injury. So can growing up and remaining in an unstable family environment. Other risk factors include questioning personal or sexual identity and social isolation.
Mental health issues. Being highly self-critical and struggling with problem solving increases the risk of self-injury. Also, self-injury is commonly linked with certain mental health conditions, such as borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders.
Alcohol or drug use. Being under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs may increase the risk of self-injury.
Helping someone form healthy connections to people who don't self-injure can improve relationship and communication skills.
The OPIOID “connection” of cutting.
OPIOIDS activates an area of nerve cells in the brain and body called opioid receptors that BLOCK pain signals between the brain and the body.
I've had people around me who were actively cutting or had scars that were healing.
The feeling of the cutting "addiction" is real, as the pain acts like a "cover-up" of the pain they are feeling otherwise in their world. It really is an escape; and the cut feels way better than the alternative.
It's no wonder why the following drugs are CHOICE for those who initially want to ESCAPE. The use eventually becomes a "need" that assists the departure from the life they know.
Examples of opioids include morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.
I found this and thought it to be pretty telling and wildly accurate:
“When the body’s endogenous opioid system is activated, the body produces naturally occurring chemicals that can MAKE PEOPLE FEEL BETTER and RELIEVE STRESS AND PAIN.”
“This relief can cause many teenagers to use self-harm as a dysfunctional coping mechanism and become addicted to hurting themselves."
RECAP: …20 years ago
The young lady I knew (in the youth group) who was cutting is the daughter of the lady who was said to have been Bi-polar.
There is hope! How do I know that?
1. The daughter graduated high school at the TOP of her class; and is now excelling in the US Navy.
2. Her mother is living a great life and fully functioning!