Whilst self-harm does not always lead to thoughts of suicide, self-harming is a serious mental health issue that generally has a basis in significant emotional pain and trauma and therefore needs immediate support. Self-harming is usually non-suicidal - if a person self-harming intended to end their life, they would have most likely attempted it already. However, there is a possibility that non-suicidal self-harm could escalate to a suicide attempt, as self-harm advances in its severity. 

DIFFERENT FORMS OF SELF-HARM

• Cutting the flesh with sharp objects
• Scratching, bruising, or pinching the skin
• Burning the skin with a cigarette, lighter etc.
• Breaking objects with the hands to cause pain and bleeding.
• Repeatedly scratching open wounds.
• Scratching words or letters on the body with a sharp object
• Drinking an unusually high amount of alcohol.
• Easting excessively or nothing at all.
• Taking high doses of medication.

WHY PEOPLE SELF HARM?

• To escape emotional pain - a person may justify self-harm as a way of taking their attention away from emotional pain; physical pain may be easier to tolerate than emotional pain.
• Self-loathing - Self loathing can be a result of bullying, judgements by others, failure in something, not living up to other's expectations, a lack of self worth.
• To release frustration - A person can self-harm because they are frustrated and unable to communicate or express their feelings in other ways.
• A sense of relief - some people feel a sense of relief when they see their own blood from self-harming.
• A distraction from past trauma - PTSD can cause a person to self-harm when they are unable to escape the memories of a past traumatic event. The pain of self-harming takes them away from the pain of their memories.
• To deal with past abuse - self-harming is common among people who have experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse.
• To deal with emotional numbness or dissociation - after a traumatic event, some people lose their ability to feel anything, so self-harming is a way for them to feel pain again.
• To show desperation - some people self-harm to try to show other people how desperate they are; especially so for young adults after the end of a relationship.
• To seek attention - As a way of getting attention from other people.
• To experience euphoria - for some people, self-harming is a way of experience a rush of euphoria, which then compels them to do it again.
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SUMMARY

If a person's self-harming goes unaddressed for a long time, it can cause significant long-term damage, both mentally and physically.