Teen Self-Injury Treatment

What Is Self Injury?

Self-injury involves self-inflicted bodily harm that is severe enough to either cause tissue damage or to leave marks that last several hours. Cutting is the most common form of SI, but burning, head banging and scratching are also common. Other forms include biting, skin-picking, hair-pulling, hitting the body with objects or hitting objects with the body.

Other Names

Self-injury, self-harm, self-mutilation, cutting, burning, SI.

Why Do People Do It?

Although suicidal feelings may accompany SI, it does not necessarily indicate a suicide attempt. Most often it is simply a mechanism for coping with emotional distress. People who select this emotional outlet may use it to express feelings, to deal with feelings of unreality or numbness, to stop flashbacks, to punish themselves, or most often, to relieve tension.

Who Self-Injures

Self Injury can impact any family. Although SI is recognized is a common problem among the teenage population, it is not limited to adolescents. People of all sexes, nationalities, socioeconomic groups and ages can be self-injurers.

Warning Signs

Adolescents who self-injure become very adept at hiding scars or explaining them away. Look for signs such as a preference for wearing concealing clothing at all times (e.g. long sleeves in hot weather), an avoidance of situations where more revealing clothing might be expected (e.g. unexplained refusal to go to a party), or unusually frequent complaints of accidental injury (e.g. a cat owner who frequently has scratches on their arms).

Treatments or Cures for Self Injury

Medications such as antidepressants, mood stabilizers and anxiolytics may alleviate some of the underlying feelings that a teen is attempting to cope with via self injury. More importantly however, youth  can learn more positive coping mechanisms to replace the SI. It is imperative to find a clinically sound treatment program where therapeutic work can be done to help youth cope with underlying problems that are causing their distress. It is important to note that a teen is generally neither psychotic nor actively suicidal and will benefit more from working with a treatment program that can competently assist in the identification of  the underlying issues that are resulting in a teen hurting him or herself. 

If you or someone you love is engaging in self injury, please visit www.paradigmmalibu.com. We have experienced, licensed experts with the special skills required to successfully address the complex issue of teen self injury. We look forward to being of service.