Why
do people self harm?
People often self harm in order to cope with emotional pain, self hatred, anger, anxiety and emotional numbness.
Self harm is a way of showing very deep unhappiness. It is a way of communicating what cannot be put into words or, at times, even thoughts.
People who self harm will usually have gone through a very difficult or painful experience when they were a child or young adult. At the time they may not have had anyone to talk to or get support from so did not deal with the emotions adequately. In some cases they may have been too young to understand what was happening to them or the experience may have left them so traumatized their feelings and memories became deeply buried.
( Image from Members Gallery @ www.recoveryourlife.com )