Negative emotions can cause a significant amount of stress for us all. The stress of coping with these emotions can sometimes lead to people to seek an outlet or some sort of relief or escape.
Self-harm describes any behaviour where the intention is to hurt oneself, and can include things such as cutting, overdosing on medication and starvation.
Some common reasons people hurt themselves is that it gives them a sense of control over their emotions, or it provides relief from the pain caused by their emotions. Whilst this may work in the present moment, afterwards it causes many other difficulties such as wanting to hide scarred body parts, and feelings of hopelessness and anxiety about having such difficulty managing their own emotions. Self-harm is often seen as an ineffective and unhelpful attempt at solving life’s problems, and it only really hides the underlying issue for a little while.
It is so important to learn how to effectively manage the rainbow of life’s emotions, as well as any everyday stressors that come your way. This will help prevent using self-harm as a short-term way of coping with painful emotions.
Talking to one of our highly trained Clinical Psychologists will help you learn life changing strategies to stop self-harming for good, and feel happier. The skills are your key to freedom.