Self-injury is the deliberate infliction of damage to your own body, and includes cutting, burning, hair pulling, and other forms of injury.

Experts estimate that about 4 percent of the population practices self-injury, almost equally divided between male and female. According to researchers, recent studies of high school and college students put the number at approximately one in five.

While cutting can look like attempted suicide, it is most often not the intent, rather an unhealthy way to deal with emotional stress.  Most people who self-harm do it as a way to regulate mood, escape feelings, cope with stress, express pain, or punish themselves.  People who hurt themselves in this way may be motivated by a need to distract themselves from inner turmoil, or to quickly release anxiety that builds due to an inability to express intense emotions. Continue reading