Signs and signitures to Look For

I know that most of the people who self-harm themselves, me included, were(are) very ashamed of our injuries.  I used to hide it all of the time and prayed at every moment to not get caught.

 So because self injury is most often times kept secret, it can be easy to miss some of the signs that your teen, friend, sister, brother, wife, or husband is injuring themselves deliberately.  Here are some helpful hints to help guide you if you are suspicious that a loved one or friend is engaging in this type of behavior.

*Symptom may include but are not limited to:

• Scars, such as from burns or cuts
• Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises or other wounds
• Broken bones
• Keeping sharp objects on hand
• Spending a great deal of time alone
• Relationship troubles
• Wearing long sleeves or long pants, even in hot weather
• Claiming to have frequent accidents or mishaps

Now as stated before, these are only some of the main symptoms that most people encounter.  But each person, just like their personality, may show different things.

I know I have mentioned before some of the ways that people can harm themselves, but here is a little bit more detailed list of things people might do, from the mild, to the extreme.

*Forms of Self-Injury:

• Severe scratching
• Cutting
• Burning
• Poisoning
• Carving words or symbols on the skin
• Breaking bones
• Hitting or punching
• Piercing the skin with sharp objects (in my opinion, popular body piercings do not count in this category.)
• Head banging
• Biting
• Pulling out hair
• Interfering with wound healing

Again, these are only a few of the ways that people have found to harm themselves.  Some people may use more than one method of injuring themselves.  But more people like me, I had a love/hate relationship with a razor blade.  It was the easiest way to get what I needed and it was the easiest way to hide it.  Sometimes I would keep a razor blade hidden away inside my makeup compact.  I was talking with my mother today on the telephone and we were discussing this issue.  I guess I had forgotten all about this story, but here it is.

When I moved away for college, I thought I had pretty much cleaned out my room.  I guess I was wrong.  My mom had told me that when she went in to get my room cleaned up and ready for my younger sister, she had found steak knives and blades from shaving razors scattered in different places.  As I was listening to my mom say these things, she told me that it was then she had began to have her major suspicions.  But as probably most parents are probably devastated and scared to figure these things out, she didn't know how to address the situation with me.  I think sometimes that it would have been nice if she had come to me.  It might not have been so hard for me to ask for help later on.  But I do not blame her at all.  I know that it must have been a difficult time as a parent to discover something like that.

One last thing before I go.  Please parents, friends, loved ones.  If you find out that someone close to you is injuring themselves on purpose.  Please don't come at them with an aggressive tactic.  It will most likely make this person become introverted to the conversation and you most likely won't get much out of them.  Attempt to be as kind as possible.  Let them know you love them.  Let them know you care and that if they want the help, that you will be there to support them.  It helps an extreme amount to have a good support system when dealing with self-injury.  There are usually so many more elements that coincide with the self-injury behavior.


*Information cited from MayoClinic.com