• Fr. Jo Paul Kiriyanthan

Inflicting direct injury to one’s own skin tissues without an intention of a suicide is commonly known as self-harm. People may make dozens of smaller cuts on one spot.  Usually, they damage on their skin with a sharp object or do deep scratching with fingernails to the point of drawing blood. Head-banging, burns and hair pulling are some other forms of self-injury. Clinically it is known as Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Disorder (NSSID), or Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH).

Adolescents or students do such injuries usually in hands, wrists, stomach, legs or some other parts of body. They prefer to hide such injuries from others especially from the care-takers by wearing lots of jewellery or long sleeves even in hot weather. So, the cuts and scratches may not be visible to others. Overwhelming feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, lower energy-levels, sleep disturbances can be some other signs related to self-harming habits.

According to the definition, people do it without any intention of suicide. But it may be still life-threatening. In some cases, people who practice self-harm would eventually show suicidal tendencies as well.

In order to relieve from any kind of anxiety, stress, pressure and tension or from the distressing thoughts some start self-injury practices. This might give the individual a temporary relief from the pain or emotional distress, but the problems which cause anxiety or stress remain unresolved. Therefore, the pressure and tension return after a break. Moreover, feelings like shame and guilt might follow the individual due to the unhealthy practice of self-injury. Thus, the cycle continues and the individual repeats the harming practices. Since there is a temporary relief for the tension, one might misunderstand that the method of self-harming is helpful and reinforce the individual to continue such practices. But such people do not become aware of the aftereffects like shame and guilt which fuels further mental distress. It also leads to the repetition of harming efforts.
Children with self-harming practices need the help of the experts as early as possible. Awareness about this internal process of dealing with the stress or anxiety of the person would serve the individuals to break-up the above-mentioned cycle. With the aid of a psychologist, people would learn new as well as better coping strategies to deal with their anxieties and mental distress.