Who engages in 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: * Self-injury more commonly occurs in adolescent females. * Many self-injurers have a history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. * Many self-injurers have co-existing problems of 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. * Self-injurers often lack a good social support network. What are the types of self-injury? * Cutting * Burning * Picking at skin * Interfereing with wound healing * Hair-pulling * Hitting * Scratching * Pinching * Biting * Bone-breaking * Head-banging Treatment Self-injury is often misunderstood. Self-injurers trying to seek medical or mental health treatment frequently r
