What is Self-Injury?
Self-injury (SI) or Self-harm (SH) is deliberate injury inflicted by a person upon his or her own body without suicidal intent. Self-injury has also been known as self-harm (SH), self-inflicted violence (SIV), self-injurious behavior (SIB), and self-mutilation, although this last term has connotations that some people find worrisome, inaccurate, or offensive.
A popular misconception of self-injury is that it is an attention seeking behavior. In truth, many people who self-injure are very self-conscious of their wounds and scars and go to great lengths to conceal their behavior from others. They may offer alternative explanations for their injuries or conceal their scars with clothing.
Examples of self-injury other than cutting include:
- Punching, hitting and scratching
- Choking, constricting of the airway
- Self-biting of hands, limbs, tongue, lips, or arms
- Picking at wounds, ulceration, or sutures
- Burning, including cigarette burns
- Stabbing self with wire, pins, needles, nails, staples, pens, or hair accessories
- Ingesting corrosive chemicals, batteries, or pins
- Self-poisoning; for example by over-dosing on medication and/or alcohol, without suicidal intent
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