But sometimes the reason is unknown. There are many possible causes of emotional distress. It's often a build-up of many smaller things that leads people to think about self-harm. There is evidence of a clear link between suicide or suicidal thoughts and people who have previously self-harmed.
Can I just get treatment for my injuries? What is a risk assessment? A risk assessment should be completed with you to think about any risks. In hospital staff may want to do a risk assessment with you by going through a questionnaire with you.
Healthcare professionals will look at different things to work out risk using a scale. Some of the things healthcare professionals will look at are around the following. What is a needs assessment? This will look at your needs to help you to manage and recover from selfharm. It should look at both your mental health and social care needs. It will be completed with a mental health specialist.
You should work together with the specialist to agree your needs. They should then be put in a written plan. The needs assessment should be passed on to your GP and to any relevant mental health services. This is to help them give you follow up support. Can I leave? You might be in a healthcare setting like a hospital, or a mental health service, because of self-harm. But you might want to leave.
Before you leave professionals should assess you to test your mental capacity and to see if they think you have a mental illness. What will happen after my assessments? The NHS has 3 different options depending on your risk. But it is possible. The first step is deciding you want to stop and that you are doing this for you. Some people have found it helpful being supported by loved ones to help them stop self-harming.
There are different ways to help reduce the amount you self-harm, or to try to stop completely. Everybody is different and what works for someone else may not work for you. Try different things. Whatever you choose give yourself time, as it may take a while for things to improve.
You can think about telling your friends and family that you are trying to stop or reduce your self-harm. You can let them know if there is anything that they can do to support you. You may self-harm straight away when you are distressed. You can try to delay your self-harm.
With this technique, you might not self-harm as badly, as often or at all. This may work because often people react to difficult feelings quickly by self-harming.
Give yourself an aim. You can gradually increase the amount of time you wait before selfharming. This might lead to you not self-harming at all. Talk to someone who understands. This could be a friend, a relative or another person who self-harms. There may be a local support group you can join or a helpline you can ring.
You might self-harm for several reasons. You can decide on what techniques work for you best. The NHS make free self-help guide you can use to help you.
Here is the link: www. The app is not an aid to treatment. Here is the link to download the app: www. This app is to help give people easy and discreet access to information and advice about selfharm and suicidal thoughts. There is always risk with self-harm. But you might want to lower the physical damage you do when you self-harm.
This is called harm-reduction. There are some suggestions below. You may have scars from your self-harm. You may feel embarrassed, ashamed or feel guilty about your scars. Accepting your scars can be an important part of recovery.
This can take time. If people see your scars they might ask what happened. They may not realise that you have self-harmed. You might deal with things differently depending on who asks you. Be honest You may want to tell people that your scars were caused by self-harm. You can tell them as much or as little as you want.
You could think about some responses you are happy with. There are ways you can treat and disguise scars if you want to. Most scars will fade over time but will never disappear. Not all of these will suit every type of scar. You can talk to your doctor about your scars and how to deal with them.
Keep fresh injuries clean and infection free. Good first aid or care for your wound can reduce scarring. You may be feeling all sorts of different things if someone you know selfharms. Here are some tips on how to deal with the situation and support the person you care about. Self-harm is the way the person you care for deals with their distress. Be honest with yourself about how the self-harm makes you feel.
It is ok to feel whatever you feel. You may feel frightened, uncomfortable and provoked. Take time to process your feelings around your relative selfharming. Try not to react to stressful or emotional situations with anger or blame. If your relative wants to talk to you about their self-harm the main thing to do is listen to them.
You can ask them what help they want. You may have a better understanding of what the person is going through if you educate yourself. You could contact mental health and self-harm charities for information. Or read books or join a support group. Tell them you care for them if they self-harm or not.
If possible, make sure they have a safe place. Be as available as you can be. Set aside your personal feelings about self-harm and focus on what's going on for them. Be honest and realistic about what you can and can't do. Offer the person support if you think that you can help with something. You may think about removing sharp objects or pills from the house. This can be an option if the person feels suicidal and you need to do something in a crisis. At other times this may not be helpful as for many self-harm is a coping technique.
It is likely to make them feel more alone. Accepting and understanding that someone is in pain doesn't make the pain go away. But it can make it more bearable for them to know that someone understands.
Be hopeful about the possibilities of finding other ways of coping rather than self-harm. If they are willing, discuss possibilities for treatment with them. They will decide when they feel the time is right. Be patient. You might find it difficult if the person rejects you at first, but they may need time to build trust.
Take care of yourself. Don't be afraid to take a break. If you are a carer, friend or relative of someone who self-harms, you can get support. You can use online forums, support groups and telephone support services. Support groups for friends and family of people with mental health problems may be useful.
While they may not only focus on selfharm, group members will understand how a caring role can affect you. Look in our Useful Contacts section below for contact details of some helpful services or search on the Carers Trust website:. It explains what they found about why people self-harm and ways to support people. You can download it from their website.
Website : www. You can download it for free from their website. DBT self-help The website has been created by people who have been through dialectical behavioural therapy DBT rather than by health professionals. The Scarred Soul: Understanding and Ending Self-inflicted Violence — by Jan Sutton This is a book that has new research, statistics, diagrams, some resources, case studies and practical self-help activities.
She writes about what helped her distract herself and overcome her self-harming behaviour. National Self-harm Network An online forum where you can chat with other people affected by self-harm. Self-Injury Support Offers a helpline service for women of any age who self-harm, as well as text and email services for women under Telephone : 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. If you've injured yourself severely or believe your injury may be life-threatening, or if you think you may hurt yourself or attempt suicide, call or your local emergency number immediately.
There's no one single or simple cause that leads someone to self-injure. In general, self-injury may result from:. Most people who self-injure are teenagers and young adults, although those in other age groups also self-injure.
Self-injury often starts in the preteen or early teen years, when emotions are more volatile and teens face increasing peer pressure, loneliness, and conflicts with parents or other authority figures. Although self-injury is not usually a suicide attempt, it can increase the risk of suicide because of the emotional problems that trigger self-injury.
And the pattern of damaging the body in times of distress can make suicide more likely. There is no sure way to prevent your loved one's self-injuring behavior. But reducing the risk of self-injury includes strategies that involve both individuals and communities.
Parents, family members, teachers, school nurses, coaches or friends can help. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Talking to people who self-harm about their behaviour can be safe and very helpful if done in a supportive way. It can be difficult to approach someone who is self-harming.
If you cannot do it on your own, ask someone else for help. ReachOut and eheadspace have some helpful advice on how to start a conversation with someone who self-harms.
Try the following suggestions:. If the person who is self-harming is not ready to talk about it, try another time or suggest they speak to someone who makes them feel comfortable. It can be helpful to draft up a safety plan or learn mental health first aid so you know what to do in a crisis. Encourage the person to seek support for themselves, or offer to help them make contact with one or more of the suggested supports.
If your child, friend or other family member is self-harming, or you think they might be, seeking support from a mental health professional is important for you too.
However, upsetting it can be to see a loved one in trouble, remember that self-harming behaviour is treatable and not everyone who self-harms is suicidal. Usually they are deeply ashamed and go to great lengths to hide it from others. They may suffer in silence and really need support to open up about how they are feeling. No one has to cope alone; self-harming behaviour is treatable. Support can include working on recognising triggers, learning how to manage difficult emotions and help with self-care such as caring for wounds and learning other coping strategies.
For anyone who self-harms, just realising it is a not a long-term solution to problems is a step in the right direction. It can take time to break the cycle of self-harm and there may be setbacks along the way.
It can be difficult to break away from self-harm. Treatment will include learning to find other ways to manage intense feelings. By distracting or diverting the behaviour, feelings and urges may become less intense and decrease over time. The person who is self-harming may like to develop their own ways to distract themselves, or use some of these ideas:. People of all ages self-harm, but young people are more at risk.
It is more common among girls than boys, and usually starts around the ages of 12 to 14 years, just after the onset of puberty.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 15—24 are five times more likely to self-harm than non-Indigenous young people. There are many reasons why people self-harm. Even for one person the motivation can vary. Some people do it as a way of expressing their distress, taking back control or escaping from situations they find troubling. Some people find self-harm gives them a sense of relief. Whatever the reason, self-harm is normally a sign that a person is feeling intense emotional pain and distress.
For young people, many stressful things stressors happen all at once. Unless the problems that are causing the self-harming behaviour are addressed, people will continue to use it as a way to cope. Unfortunately, self-harm can be dangerous — it can lead to serious injury and even accidental death.
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