Technically self harm ??

[Leo142]

I've noticed I dig my nails into my arm to calm myself down a lot is this classed as self harm I don't draw blood ever even though sometimes I wish I did...

[Olderal]

i suppose technically it is although i don't think its that uncommon. not something to worry unduly about although sometimes wishing you drew blood is a bit more worrying.

But only a bit.I don't really understand self harm except I can well understand people being driven to suicide. If one is unhappy enough to self harm you're really not going to be much happier walking around with signs of self inflicted damage and explaining it which probably confirms my ignorance of it.

olderal

[Hidden in reply to Olderal]

Self harm is a diversion that keeps you from dealing with what's really troubling you. The pain of it keeps you from feeling worse pain. In your case I think your intention would make a difference. You want to divert your thoughts without harming yourself. Find another outlet, like worry beads, or snap a rubber band on your wrist.This certainly is not professional advice, just me thinking out loud,Vm

[Amanda35]

Leo this is a form of self harm.You said you do it to calm yourself down. At times when you're not feeling stressed try to think about what has made you feel that way. Is there any way to make the next event less stressful? Some things used to make me feel so angry, but now I have learned to let lots of things wash over me and some essential stuff I grin and bear and make as brief as possible (we can't like everyone). Life can be so hard and often not fair. I hope you have someone you can talk to about how you feel, you must be feeling pretty stressed to make the marks.

[Hidden]

Hi,

I used to pick scabs and make them bleed again. It was a way for me to control the pain I was feeling. Once I understood why I was doing it and talked it through with the psychologist I was working with I learned techniques to stop me from doing it. For me it was all about the control, that was something I knew I could control, when I did feel like I could control anything else not even my thoughts or moods.

I used a few techniques to help when I felt like doing it. Mindfulness breathing was the one that worked for me. At first I wouldn't know until I was bleeding that I needed to use the breathing technique, but as time progressed I found that I was using the technique when I started to pick at a scab and then when the thought to do it would surface.

It's good to know what's causing you to do it and then what you can do instead.

Hope this helps.