SELF HARMING
The origins of self-harm often lie in a deep feeling of being powerless, trapped or without choice. This may come from unhappy experiences in the past or a traumatic event such as being attacked. Current events can reinforce old feelings of distress, particularly when life is very stressful, or a person feels isolated, lacking support or understanding, or is under constant criticism.
Resorting to self injury is a way of indicating that difficulties exist, and also an attempt to cope with the problems.
Perhaps you want to stop hurting yourself but do not know how to begin or realise it will be really hard. It is possible to stop! Even making a little change in the right direction is important.
Stopping harming yourself is likely to involve both loss and fear. Many may not understand this, but in stopping you may feel that you risk losing any sense of control, or losing the means to express how you feel. And initially you may feel afraid that you will not be able to find any good and adequate alternatives.
Talking to a counsellor is a good way of having some support while you take the risk to stop, so please contact me. All enquiries will be treated as strictly confidential.