What's Behind Self-Mutilation?
What's Behind Self-Mutilation?
The most common types of self-injury include:
Signs that an individual may be engaging in self-injury include:
If an individual shows signs of self-injury, a mental health professional with self-injury expertise should be consulted. The mental health professional will be able to make an evaluation and recommend a course of treatment. Self-injury can be a symptom of psychiatric illness including:
Common treatments for self-injury include:
Self-Injury
In this article
- What Is Self-Injury?
- Who Is More Likely to Engage in Self-Injury?
- What Causes People to Injure Themselves?
- What Are the Types of Self-Injury?
- Warning Signs of Self-Injury
- How Is Self-Injury Diagnosed?
- How Is Self-Injury Treated?
- What Is the Outlook for People Who Engage in Self-Injury?
What Are the Types of Self-Injury?
The most common types of self-injury include:
- Frequent cuts and burns that cannot be explained
- Self-punching or scratching
- Needle sticking
- Head banging
- Eye pressing
- Finger or arm biting
- Pulling out one's hair
- Picking at one's skin
Warning Signs of Self-Injury
Signs that an individual may be engaging in self-injury include:
- Wearing pants and long sleeves in warm weather
- The appearance of lighters, razors, or sharp objects that one would not expect among a person's belongings
- Low self-esteem
- Difficulty handling feelings
- Relationship problems
- Poor functioning at work, school, or home
How Is Self-Injury Diagnosed?
If an individual shows signs of self-injury, a mental health professional with self-injury expertise should be consulted. The mental health professional will be able to make an evaluation and recommend a course of treatment. Self-injury can be a symptom of psychiatric illness including:
- Personality disorders (particularly borderline personality disorder)
- Bipolar disorder
- Major depression
- Anxiety disorders (particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder)
- Schizophrenia
How Is Self-Injury Treated?
Common treatments for self-injury include:
- Psychotherapy: can be used to help a person stop engaging in self-injury.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): may be used to help an individual learn to recognize and address triggering feelings in healthier ways.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT):): proven to be one of the most effective types of therapy for treating those who self-injure by teaching skills for tolerating emotional distress and coping with interpersonal or other stressful experiences.
- Post-traumatic stress therapies: These may be helpful for self-injurers who have a history of abuse or incest.
- Group therapy: Talking about your condition in a group setting to people who have similar problems may be helpful in decreasing the shame associated with self-harm, and in supporting healthy expression of emotions.
- Family therapy: This type of therapy addresses any history of family stress related to the behavior and can help family members learn to communicate more directly and openly with each other.
- Hypnosis and other relaxation techniques: These approaches are helpful in reducing the stress and tension that often precede incidents of self-injury.
- Medications:Antidepressants, low-dose antipsychotics, or anti-anxiety medication may be used to reduce the initial impulsive response to stress.
