Why Do People Hurt Themselves?

A teen will show signs of depression or suicidal tendencies. Signs that show a teens depression are as follows: hopelessness, irritability, crying, anger, withdrawal from friends or family, giving prized possessions away, suicidal innuendos and changes in sleeping or eating habits. Now teens face many more difficulties than in the 1900’s (Smith, et al. 1-2). Suicide is plagued through bullying, divorce in the family, losing a close friend or relative or the thoughts that circle the brain daily. Suicide statistics have risen drastically in the past decade; in addition, since 2000 suicide has increased by 35% and since 1950, there has been a 300% increase in suicide rates (Dryden-Edwards 2). Suicide is the third leading cause of deaths in 10-24 year olds. Self-Harm is a way for a depressed individual to feel in control of the pain and/or numbness that is present during the numbness. Self-mutilation is the act of purposefully hurting oneself through the following: cutting, burning, biting, hitting, bone breaking, snapping a rubber band, pinching, kicking, punching and many more. However, this form of injury does not always occur on the wrist; it can appear anywhere on an individual (Dryden-Edwards 2). Record amounts of teens self-harm on places of the body where the wounds and scars will not be visible. Most people think that depression is depression, but there is a difference

Many people think that self-harm is no big deal. “It’s just for attention,” they say “they’re not really hurting themselves… right?” Wrong. Self-harm is a HUGE deal. In fact, it is 40-100 times more common than suicide. Suicide has been around for ages, while self-harm is a new trend that has been growing since the mid 1990’s, and the numbers are still skyrocketing. Self-harm was three times more common in 2011 than in 2007. Now, tell me that you think that that isn’t a big deal. Statistics show that 1% of the United States self-harms. So imagine you are in a room with 200 other people. It is likely that two of these people hurt themselves. Sometimes it is daily, other times it may just be occasional. Two people may not seem like a lot, but in reality it is.

In Tony Dokoupil’s article about “the suicide epidemic” He talks about how suicide is the highest rate of “injury death” in the US and how the CDC believes that is surpasses the number of deaths from car crashes. He also goes on to quote Ralph Nader saying, “we have become our own greatest danger” (par 16). Suicidal thoughts and tendencies are also a heightened risk that could lead to serious injury or even death. For some self harm could be severely cutting or scratching their skin as well as burning or puncturing their skin with foreign objects, but others slam themselves into walls, hit things, or bang their head against something. All these things could be potentially dangerous because of the risk of brain damage, broken bones, and severe bleeding. Each of these things could either cause death, or hospitalization. Sometimes people also get addicted to self harm the way others get addicted to nicotine or drugs, if they go for long periods of time without hurting themselves in a way they deem fit they start going into withdrawals. However physical risks aren’t the only types of

In today’s world, a decent amount of teenagers and some adults have a tendency to be take part in nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviors (NSSI). In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne we observe a similar ordeal with Reverend Dimmesdale. In the novel, Dimmesdale decides to punish and self-harm himself for his sins. Dimmesdale committed adultery with Hester Prynne, so Dimmesdale now feels the need to harm himself for his problems and sins. We can observe similar features from Dimmesdale in modern self-harmers as they punish themselves as well. Modern day self-harmers and Dimmesdale seem to show many similarities in the following criteria: methods used when harming themselves, characteristics of the person,

Individuals sometimes turn to nonsuicidal self-injury (NNSSI) to stop bad feelings or to just simply generate a sense of feelings. However, research regarding childhood abuse potentially leading to NSSI is scarce. Weinrich and colleagues wanted to look at two PTSD side effect clusters as potential systems through which childhood abuse may being related to NSSI (Weinrich & Nock, 2008). The study included 86 adolescents who were primarily female Caucasians who had shown signs of childhood abuse. Sole purpose of this study was to examine correlated of the presence and frequency of NSSI. Therefore, both self-injurers and non-injurers were included in this study. It was hypothesized that individuals who had experienced childhood abuse may engage

“Self-injury appears to reduce the individual's level of emotional and physiological arousal to a tolerable level, and the internal chaos is temporarily soothed. Thus, the physical injuries may seem a small price to pay to escape from the ‘raging inferno inside’. The reality of the individual’s actions starts to sink in. Shame, guilt, self-disgust or self-hate may rekindle the smouldering embers. Because the underlying issues remain locked up inside and unresolved, the cycle continues unless change is effected.”

Whereas this support may includes confession of NSSI behavior, other times more general forms of support are key in cessation. Though disclosure and conversation of NSSI behavors were most likely to be with the self-injurers’ peers or significant others, it was shown that these conversations were least likely to be effective and helpful. On the other hand, conversation with professionals and parents, though less likely to be initiated by self-injurers, were more expected to be perceived as helpful. Though more research is needed in this area, this study suggests that disclosure to at least one trusted adult may be helpful for NSSI

When discussing suicide in class, we also learned about NSSI which is nonsuicidal self-injury. This is when someone hurts themselves physically without purposely trying to kill themselves. There are multiple explanations as to why someone would do this. One of the reasons, is to get attention from other people or use it as manipulation. In addition, a person might also do this to distract themselves from the emotional pain they are feeling. The physical injury gives them a sense of validation for the pain that they are experiencing on the inside. Lastly, the physical pain somehow lets them release their emotions.

Self harm is becoming a bigger and bigger issue for teens and adolescents each day. Studies show that 2 to 3 million American teens in some way or form endeavor to hurt themselves each year. There are many reasons why most teens decide to harm themselves, but there was one reason that stuck out. In an article titled “Teens Who Self-harm” Written by Marie Hartwell-Walker, it stated that some teens who harm themselves are generally not looking for a way to end their lives, but they are looking for a way to end emotional pain.

What is suicide? According to Dictionary.com, Suicide is “the intentional taking of one’s own life” (Dictionary.com, 2009). Suicide takes the lives of almost 30,000 Americans a year and is the 11th leading cause of death in American, homicide being the 15th (Save.org, 2009). Suicide can be caused by many different abnormal behaviors and can effect not only the victim but also family and friends of the victim. Suicidal thoughts and feelings should be taken seriously because they’re true feelings one is having. I hope to educate the reader on abnormal disorders that can cause suicide, the symptoms and behaviors of a suicidal person, and educate the reader on ways to prevent a person from taking

The shift towards functionalism in psychology originated near the 20th century as a challenge to the 19th century beliefs of European scientists Wundt’s experimental psychology & Titchener’s structural psychology. Both forms were considered too restricted and rigid. Hence functionalism came into the picture to explore the daily life functions and adaptability skills of individuals in

Self-inflicted injuries and unusual deaths are common, more now than ever. Texting while driving alone kills about 6,000 annually. About 600 people die each year due to asphyxiation, the act of suffocation, whether for sexual arousal or suicide. Bizarrely, about 450 people die from falling out of bed each year. Falling out of bed, accounts for about 1.8 million emergency room visits and over 400, 000 hospital admissions annually. Not really unusual but the most common death are due to cardiovascular disease. The most common self-inflicted injury is the burning, cutting and bruising of the skin. Close to 70% of teens engage in this type of self-injury and have tried to commit suicide at least once. About 55% of people have tried to commit suicide multiple times. Each one of these yearly rates has continued to grow since the early 1990’s and have yet to decrease.

Both non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behavior are part of a group of behaviors that result in physical damage to one's body. Indeed, suicide and NSSI behaviors seem similar, with NSSI often mistaken for suicidal behavior. Nevertheless, there are clear distinctions between suicidal behavior and NSSI with intent being the most important distinction.

many of us try to take our own lives, mutilate ourselves, or just succeed in

There are two main theories of human behavior. Some scientists and psychologists believe in the “nature” theory, that one