“I have a history of self-harm. When I self-harm I have my reasons. I have been clean (not self harming) for a few weeks. Here is my problem, whenever I see people with scratches say from a cat or a cut or injury, I have the need to copy that injury. Why is this?” Zoë
Hi Zoë, thank you for sharing a bit about your self-harm experiences. It is not uncommon for people to manage their distress through self harm. Over 1 in 10 people will self harm during their lifetime. Self harm can be a confusing and frustrating behaviour for those who use it and for family and friends.
There is a physiological reason people use self-harm to manage distressing or painful emotions. When you self harm your body produces endogenous opioids. Endogenous opioids have a similar affect to opioid medications. Emotional pain and real pain occur in similar parts of the brain so the endogenous opioids most probably act to decrease emotional pain. However, because of this self-harm can become an addictive behaviour. When you are seeing someone else with cuts it may be triggering the memory of the good feeling you got from self harm. This is like someone with an alcohol abuse disorder walking past a bar or a gambler walking past a gaming room.
Self-harm is linked to suicidal behaviour so if you are using self-harm to manage your emotions it is important to seek support and help to decrease self-harm behaviours and to increase your distress tolerance and emotion regulation skills. Self-harm is not a good long-term strategy to cope with stress as it does physical damage to your body. It also does not give you the opportunity to learn other ways to cope with emotional pain or stress. Seeing a Psychologist can help you identify the triggers for self-harm and develop other strategies to use if you feel the need to self-harm.
