Self-harm

Self-harm (SH) is injury to one's own body, whether conscious or unconscious. Some scholars use more technical definitions related to specific aspects of behavior. This injury may be aimed at relieving otherwise unbearable emotions, sensations of unreality and numbness, or for other reasons. Self-harm is generally a social taboo. It is sometimes associated with mental illnesses such as Borderline Personality Disorder, with a history of trauma and abuse, with eating disorders, or with mental traits such as perfectionism.

Further reading

• Favaro, A. & Santonastaso, P. (2000). Self-injurious behavior in anorexia nervosa. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 188(8), 537-542.
• Favazza, A.R. & Rosenthal, R. J. (1993). Diagnostic issues in self-mutilation. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 134-140.
• Levenkron, S. (1998). Cutting. New York, NY: W. W. Norton and Company.
• Stanley, B., Gameroff, M. J., Michalsen, V., & Mann, J. J. (2001). Are suicide attempters who self-mutilate a unique population? American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(3), 427-432.
• Suyemoto, K. L. & MacDonald, M. L. (1995). Self-cutting in female adolescents. Psychotherapy, 32(1), 162-171.
• Zila, L. M. & Kiselica, M. S. (2001). Understanding and counseling self-mutilation in female adolescents and young adults. Journal of Counseling & Development, 79, 46-52.
• Strong, Marilee (1999). A Bright Red Scream. G P Putnam's Sons