Self Injury: Pt 1

      Not too long ago, some forms of self injury (SI) were seen as a suicidal attempt, when it wasn't meant to be. The reasons for people resorting to SI are as different and plentiful as the reasons people like or dislike certain foods. To the bystander, SI is not seen as a coping skill or a way of dealing with inner issues but seen sometimes as an attention getter.  SI can also be seen as a suicide attempt or a non verbal way for crying out for help.
      If we go into the head of a person who regularly uses SI as a coping skill, there are many things going on inside. What may be seen as a ridiculous or "crazy" act is quiet sane to the person partaking in the SI act. There are numerous reasons why someone would resort to this type of coping mechanism but we will be looking at three reasons in particular. By looking into these reasons, we can get a glimpse into the mind of a MI individual and how their thought process works.
      When stress mounts up in a MI person, they can not deal with that stress in a positive healthy way. Instead many try to suppress the emotions that come along with any stressor. By suppressing these emotions, ones ability to overcome them or move past the stressors are impeded and begin to build up. If you look at all of this as is it was a pressure cooker. The more you place in the pot the more and more it is compressed until ultimately it explodes. This too happens to a person who has MI, they "blow" at the smallest thing that normally would not happen. When an "explosion" happens, a MI individual that practices SI may act on that as a way to deal with the sudden emotions. This may or may not mean they want to die but it is a way that they can deal with it.
      Punching walls or other hard surfaces is a typical "explosive" form of SI. The person is so mad or upset that the fear of hurting someone is exacerbated but the need to hit something/someone is over whelming. To rationalize this desire some actually will defend their actions as "well at least I didn't punch someone out". To the MI person, acting on the immense desire to elevate the "pressure cooker feeling", hitting something is the only way without hurting others.
       Another common form of SI is typically called "cutting" and one who partakes in this is typically called "a cutter". Many who use cutting as a way to relieve the built up "junk" inside them, do not typically want to die. there are many who also do not use this as a way to get attention. There are some that even go to the extent to hide their addiction to cutting. Yes a coping skill can become an addition, both good and bad ones if it is not kept in check.
       It was once explained to me two reasons why this cutter cut on a regular basis. One reason was that they had suppressed every possible emotion for so long that they no longer felt alive. They would cut themselves to make sure they would still bleed which meant they were truly still alive. Granted this may seem rather crazy to a "normal" person, to the MI individual, it seemed all too real and the only way to insure life. No amount of talking to this person would prove to them that they were alive as the simple sight of the blood.
      Along the same lines as proving that fact of one being alive, one may cut to be able to prove the pain they are feeling inside. When someone suppresses their emotions and things that may be a stressor, you loose the ability to "put your finger on the pain". When you are injured, you can put your finger on a joint or over an organ and say "oh I am having issues with my bowels" or something along those lines. Then you can go to the doctor and get the issues fixed and thus the pain goes away.
      With a MI person, you can not always put a finger on what hurts, you just know that it hurts somewhere inside you. When using cutting as a way to "put a finger on the pain", one can see the blood and say, "that's where it hurts." Many people who cut in order to "put a finger on it", don't want to die as well as don't want others to know about it, so they hide the cut's. They make sure that the injuries are well taken care of and usually go undetected for a period of time before it is discovered or they cut too deep and seek medical help.
      This action in itself tells mountains about SI not being as a suicidal act. Yes SI can lead to suicide either by a misplaced cut or cutting too deep, which has a tragic end. Also if SI goes too long without intervention it can lead to a purposeful suicidal act because the MI individual is so over burdened with their own thoughts and feelings. Due to this, SI should be taken seriously and not just brushed off as attention seeking act. Whether the individual is hiding the act or blatantly doing it out in the open, the person needs help in some way, shape or fashion.