Checklist: 7 signs that you are becoming a threat to yourself
Text: Yana Shagova
For many, the term "self-damaging behavior" or his English tracing paper, self-harm, is associated with cutting itself. In fact, there are much more types of auto-aggressive behavior (that is, actions when a person deliberately hurts himself). Some of them are socially approved at all, and people do not recognize them as self-harm. There are still no uniform criteria for what is considered self-harm. The latest DSM edition uses the term "nonsuicidal self-injury" - "non-suicidal self-harm", which includes the application of wounds, cuts, scratches, burns and other injuries to your body.
The person who does this does not usually have suicidal intent - in this way he gets rid of pain or hard feelings. But this does not mean that such actions are not dangerous: cuts can lead to serious bleeding or infection, and burns leave scars or cause pain shock. Not to mention the social consequences: many people who practice self-harm are ashamed of it and cannot tell anyone about the problem. However, ways to harm yourself are not limited to injury. Some people deliberately violate the schedule of taking medications or lead dangerously. We understand how to understand that you become a threat to yourself.
1
You cut, scratch or burn yourself
This is what we basically imagine when we hear the word "self-harm" - the cuts that people most often apply to their thighs, wrists, forearms, or palms. Some people scratch themselves with a knife or any hard objects to bleed, stick needles into themselves or inject objects under the skin or soft tissues. Putting your fingers in a boiling or hot liquid (yes, “checking the temperature” is also considered if you know that the water is very hot) or consciously grab red-hot or hot objects with your bare hands - this is also a type of self-harm. As well as less extreme options - to scratch wounds and sores, as well as often squeeze out acne and nibble burrs to the blood.
2
You provoke or cause yourself bruises
In this case, any method is considered: beating your head against a wall or door jamb “as punishment”, putting a slap on yourself (yourself), pressing your fingers with a door or, for example, throwing yourself on a hard object with a sweep of body - all this refers to self-karma . Self-extinguishing, even if only jokingly and "slightly", is also a manifestation of auto-aggression - just like when a person squeezes parts of the body to bruises, strongly stings or delays the skin to painful sensations.
3
You pull your hair
This symptom even has a separate name - trichotillomania: this is the name of the obsessive desire to pull hair on the head or other parts of the body, including tearing out eyebrows and eyelashes. This is an obsessive repetitive behavior that is very difficult to cope with by an “effort of will”. Symptoms are usually exacerbated by stress, conflicts with close people, and other strong psychological stress (deadlines, fear of failure, and the like).
4
Are you deliberately sifting with alcohol
Yes, it is also on the list. If a person deliberately gets drunk, knowing that in the morning he will be sick of so much alcohol, this is deliberate harm to himself. “I want to get drunk today” is a manifestation of auto-aggression. Although in our society it is customary to approve of the habit of solving problems with the help of alcohol, this does not mean that such behavior is not dangerous and you should not worry about it.
5
You overeat or starve, cause vomiting
Auto-aggressive behavior includes diets with strict food restriction, compulsive overeating, and the habit of inducing vomiting after eating to “clear” the stomach. Even if these are one-off cases that do not fall under the diagnosis of an eating disorder, they indicate emotional distress and that the person cannot cope with it in any other way.
6
You are intentionally "mistaken" in the dosage of drugs
You deliberately exceed the dosage of the medicines you need or, on the contrary, miss the intake (meaning not the usual forgetfulness, although in this case there is something to think about). The more serious the drugs are and the more your life depends on them (antibiotics, insulin, neuroleptics, and so on), the more serious aggression towards yourself is indicated by this behavior.
7
You do risky things.
Sex without a condom with strangers, dangerous driving and drunk driving, as well as any other risky situations that you go to, although you know that they could be avoided - all these are symptoms of auto-aggression. There are situations when you ignore the symptoms of physical or mental illness, work without rest twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and constantly postpone rest and visits to the doctor — as well.
Why do people do this?
There are two common misconceptions: that people who harm themselves do not want to live, and that they thus attract attention to themselves. Neither is true to the end. Autoagression is not a suicide, its action is more like an addiction mechanism. At the same time, a unified theory describing non-suicidal self-damaging behavior still does not exist. According to one of the versions, a person who cuts or burns himself, causes an adrenaline rush that helps him cope with severe stress. That is, such behavior is something like an attempt to “cure” on one’s own from a complex emotional state. The second theory says that self-harm is a way to feel at least something, to cope with a depressive feeling of emptiness and insensitivity. In this case, the pain seems to return the person to reality, allowing him to feel more alive.
As for the idea that a person in this case is trying to draw attention, the roots of this approach can be found in Soviet psychiatry: it was rather cruel to those who showed self-damaging behavior. It was believed that this is a "hysterical" act of a person who wants to be pitied - and therefore allegedly should not feel sorry for him in any case, since in the future he will again behave the same way.
But this behavior is a cry for help. The person who faced him undoubtedly needs sympathy, as well as medical and psychotherapeutic support. Self-damaging behavior often accompanies various disorders: borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, depressive states, bipolar disorder. Often, adolescents and young people who resort to violence and abuse in childhood have resorted to self-cuts and other auto-aggressive behavior.
What to do
The first thing you should do if you recognize yourself as described in the actions described above is to try not to blame yourself and realize that you need help. This is not a consequence of "bad temper" or "depravity," autoagression is generally poorly controlled by willpower. Simply put, you are not behaving like this because you are a “bad”, “stubborn” or “hysterical” person who likes to harm himself and scare others. And if someone tries to convince you of this, this person is wrong and treats you carelessly.
It is very good if you have a close person or several such people who sympathize with and with whom you can talk about the problem. This support is especially valuable in cases where you are ready to break down and harm yourself (if you manage to track this state). If at this particular moment there is no one to turn to, you can write down or sketch your experiences or try substitutive behavior: cut not yourself, but a piece of paper or a vegetable from the refrigerator, beat a pillow, tear a piece of cloth, and so on.
Self-damaging and risky behavior is dangerous in and of itself, but it can signal some disorders - therefore, it is best to seek psychological and psychiatric help. You can start with any of the specialists: a non-medical psychotherapist / psychologist or a psychiatrist / medical psychotherapist. How to understand that a psychologist or a doctor to whom you fall will not benefit in your condition? If a specialist says that you are guilty and “just wanted to attract attention”, it means that you got a bad psychologist or a non-professional doctor. If he compares your suffering with someone else, devaluing them (for example, he says: "Some people are terminally ill and would give everything to exchange with you, but you just do not value your life"), gives "simple" advice ( "just" to establish a personal life, get married, have a child), promising that it will cure you - this is also a reason to turn to another specialist.
A competent psychiatrist or psychologist will not say any of the above, but will ask in detail how long your symptoms last, what the circumstances against which they appeared, find out other details and features of your emotional state. Almost all conditions in which a person exhibits auto-aggressive behavior require both medical correction and psychological support. So the psychologist will most likely ask you to go to the doctor, and a conscientious psychiatrist will recommend psychological support in parallel with the medication. The most important thing is to admit to yourself that the problem exists, and not be afraid to ask for help.
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