Self-harm is when you hurt yourself on purpose to relieve feelings of distress. People sometimes self-harm when life feels hard to cope with.
If you self-harm, you might be dealing with lots of intense thoughts and feelings and hurting yourself feels like the only way to let those feelings out. Or you might feel numb and want to hurt yourself so that you can feel something.
Often self-harm only brings temporary relief. This means that later, when things start to build up again, we might feel like we have to harm again. It can be really hard to break out of this cycle.
Self-harm is a way to show the feelings you have inside on the outside. It might cause you to experience:
It is important to note that self-harm is not always obvious. You might find yourself doing things which are harmful, but not think of them as self-harm. This could include things like:
Resources
Young Minds – click for support & help for a young person
Young Minds – click this link which is aimed at helping parents
Samaritans – call 116 123
Shout – Text SHOUT to 85258 to contact the crisis helpline
Calm – call 0800 585 858 between 5pm & midnight
Papyrus – call 0800 068 4141 or text 07860 039967 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org to contact HOPELINE247, available 24 hours a day
