March 1st is International Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Awareness Day

Non-Suicidal Self-injury (NSSI) – is any deliberate, non suicidal behavior that inflicts physical harm on one ' s body to relieve emotional distress.People who engage in NSSI usually do not involve a conscious intent to die by suicide, though many believe that people who harm themselves are suicidal. There are also numerous myths that surround NSSI, which create a stigma for those struggling with kind of coping behavior. Individuals who use NSSI are often trying to:* Distract emotional pain* End feelings of numbness* Calm overwhelming feelings* Maintaining control* Self-punish* Express thoughts that cannot be put into words* Express feelings for which there are no wordsWho engages in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury?There is no simple portrait of a person who intentionally self-injures. This behavior is not limited by gender, race, education, age, sexual orientation, socio-economics, or religion. However, there are some commonly seen factors:* NSSI more commonly occurs in adolescent females.* Alexithymia is often a characteristic of those who struggle with NSSI.* Many self-injurers have a history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.* Many self-injurers have co-existing problems like depression, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder or eating disorders.* Self-injures tend to have been raised in families that discouraged expression of anger, and tend to lack skills to express their emotions.What are the types of self-injury?* C...
Source: Dr. Deborah Serani - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Tags: anxiety awareness days depression non-suicidal self-injury stress trauma treatment triggers Source Type: blogs