Self-injurious behavior has a voice and it speaks of the underlying pain that is buried deep inside. It communicates the emotional pain that can only be represented by physical marks. Sometimes self-harm speaks such loud internal critical self-talk that punishment must ensue and the self-injurer cuts. Perhaps self-injury functions the most frequently as a way to regulate moods. The anxiety and confusion that has built up like an internal combustion engine must be qualmed and the self-injury harms him/herself to bring relief, relaxation, and a sense of calm.
There are several other functions that self-injury serves. When the person feels deadened to the world around him/her and emotionally numb, self-harm helps him/her feel alive. The blood seems to bring peace and a certainty of aliveness. It seems to ground the person back to reality. Oddly enough, self-injury can be a way people self-soothe. Once they have burned or cut themselves, they use great care to tend to their injury. It may be the only instance where they pay attention to their needs. Self-injury can also be used to dissociate, transporting the person to a place where they no longer feel the intense emotions that seem daunting.
Sometimes their may be one or more of these functions that self-injury plays. Knowing the function self-injury has in the life of the self-injurer is important for treatment considerations. Understanding the importance of this coping method in the self-injurers life is vital to designing an individual treatment program unique to that person. Developing a voice to communicate without self-injury is always one important aspect of therapy.
To learn more about self-injurious behavior, contact Evelyn Wenzel, MSW, LCSW, CAP.