Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, commonly with suicidal intention.[1][2][3] Other terms such as cutting, self-injury, and self-mutilation have been used for any self-harming behavior regardless of suicidal intent.[2][4] Common forms of self-harm include damaging the skin with a sharp object or scratching with the fingernails, hitting, or burning. The exact bounds of self-harm are imprecise, but generally exclude tissue damage that occurs as an unintended side-effect of eating disorders or substance abuse, as well as more societally acceptable body modification such as tattoos and piercings.[5]
Although self-harm is by definition non-suicidal, it may still be life-threatening.[6] People who do self-harm are more likely to die by suicide,[3][7] and self-harm is found in 40–60% of suicides.[8] Still, only a minority of those who self-harm are suicidal.[9][10]
The motivations for self-harm vary; some use it as a coping mechanism to provide temporary relief of intense feelings such as anxiety, depression, stress, emotional numbness, or a sense of failure. Self-harm is often associated with a history of trauma, including emotional and sexual abuse.[11][12] There are a number of different methods that can be used to treat self-harm, which concentrate on either treating the underlying causes, or on treating the behavior itself. Other approaches involve avoidance techniques, which focus on keeping the individual occupied with other activities, or replacing the act of self-harm with safer methods that do not lead to permanent damage.[13]
Self-harm tends to begin in adolescence. Self-harm in childhood is relatively rare, but the rate has been increasing since the 1980s.[14] Self-harm can also occur in the elderly population.[15] The risk of serious injury and suicide is higher in older people who self-harm.[16]Captive animals, such as birds and monkeys, are also known to harm themselves.[17]
^Laye-Gindhu A, Schonert-Reichl KA (2005). "Nonsuicidal Self-Harm Among Community Adolescents: Understanding the 'Whats' and 'Whys' of Self-Harm". Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 34 (5): 447–457. doi:10.1007/s10964-005-7262-z. S2CID145689088.
^ abMuehlenkamp JJ (April 2005). "Self-injurious behavior as a separate clinical syndrome". The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 75 (2): 324–333. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.75.2.324. PMID15839768.
^Klonsky 2007b, p. 1040: "[B]ehaviors associated with substance and eating disorders—such as alcohol abuse, binging, and purging—are usually not considered self-injury because the resulting tissue damage is ordinarily an unintentional side effect. In addition, body piercings and tattoos are typically not considered self-injury because they are socially sanctioned forms of cultural or artistic expression. However, the boundaries are not always clear-cut. In some cases behaviors that usually fall outside the boundaries of self-injury may indeed represent self-injury if performed with explicit intent to cause tissue damage."
^Farber SK, Jackson CC, Tabin JK, Bachar E (2007). "Death and annihilation anxieties in anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and self-mutilation". Psychoanalytic Psychology. 24 (2): 289–305. doi:10.1037/0736-9735.24.2.289.
^Rea K, Aiken F, Borastero C (1997). "Building therapeutic staff: client relationships with women who self-harm". Women's Health Issues. 7 (2): 121–125. doi:10.1016/S1049-3867(96)00112-0. PMID9071885.
^Pierce D (1987). "Deliberate self-harm in the elderly". International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2 (2): 105–110. doi:10.1002/gps.930020208. S2CID145408278.