An article that briefly describes the word ‘self-harm’. Here you will find a brief overview of the following questions: Who does it? Why do they do it? Where do they do it? Self-mutilation or simply self-mutilation is described in the Dikke Van Dalen as: deliberately mutilating oneself. This is of course far too vague a description and that is why we have gone into it a little further to find out a lot of things about this little discussed subject.
Self-harm usually begins in young people under the age of eighteen and is more common in women than men. A British study tells us that in a class of twenty students, on average, two students deliberately mutilate themselves. In Belgium, self-mutilation is not that common, but in Japan, ritual self-harm is a tradition among the Yakuza when they have disappointed their commander/gang leader. To apologize for their mistake, they cut off the top part of their little finger with a knife and offer it to their superior. If they make another mistake, they will have to pay for it with their lives.
You can mutilate yourself in different ways.
A few examples are:
- Cutting with a sharp object in places where it is not visible.
- Burning yourself to cause burns.
- Banging your fists and/or your head against a wall, hitting yourself.
Besides this, there are other ways people use to injure themselves.
For example:
- Eating too much.
- Starting a relationship in which abuse takes place.
- When it comes to scratching, cutting or burning themselves, this usually happens in the evening when they are alone.
There can be several reasons why someone mutilates themselves.
Some examples are:
- Wanting to punish himself.
- Losing tension.
- Converting mental pain into physical pain.
- To prove that you can handle pain.
- To notice that you are still alive.
- To give yourself a feeling of power because you can decide when you feel pain and when you don’t.
People who mutilate themselves find it difficult to stop. When you torture your own body, the addictive hormone endorphins are released. Endorphins are a natural painkiller but can also provide a feeling of happiness. The habit of self-mutilation often develops gradually and is difficult to break. The urge to self-harm is triggered by the physical addiction to endorphins, but also especially by the mental addiction to emotions that are generated or suppressed during the self-harm. Many people think that self-harm is a way to get attention from the outside world, but without words. Sort of a hint that you’re not doing well. That you need someone who will give you attention and help you. It’s actually strange that it is seen as a cry for help. Because the wounds are usually well hidden. Self-harm is usually a way to deal with your feelings. To be able to deal with your problems. Hurting yourself soothes the inner pain.
People who practice self-harm are not crazy, but they do not know how to express their feelings and they do so in the wrong way. Many people who self-harm have usually experienced very painful or shocking experiences that have produced strong feelings of fear, pain, guilt, anger, or helplessness. They also feel that they have nowhere to turn or that no one understands them. These experiences may involve violence, abuse, neglect, humiliation or the loss of important people. As a result, someone no longer feels good, which makes it difficult to express your feelings and they become insecure in contacts with others. Self-harm is becoming a hype among young people. They encourage each other via MSN and mobile phone to mutilate themselves or in extreme cases to commit suicide. This mainly happens to girls. The hype started in the spring, when a student at the Stedelijk Lyceum in Enschede (Netherlands) hanged herself. Girls between the ages of twelve and fifteen then used chat boxes and text messages to encourage each other to do the same. Four friends of the deceased girl drove each other crazy. They sent each other messages like: Do you know J.? Who’s going to commit suicide tonight? Who dares? Shortly afterwards, a second girl threw herself in front of the train. Timely intervention by the school, the police and a team of psychologists prevented the situation from getting further out of hand, but one of the girls was so obsessed that she had to be admitted. There are a number of support groups and helplines for people who want to stop self-harm or for people who just need a listening ear. One of these helplines is the suicide line (026 49 95 55).
Suicide is the extreme case of self-harm. In most cases of suicide, the victim has first mutilated himself for years. At least once a week a student commits suicide in Belgium. Researchers found suicidal thoughts in 15 percent of primary school children and 30 to 40 percent of secondary school students. More in boys than in girls. After traffic, suicide is the second cause of death for young people aged 10 to 24. Three out of four suicide victims disclosed their intent weeks beforehand. No one had noticed the signals or taken them seriously. Not even their teachers.