Blog Post: Overview

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of our awareness is to educate people who do not self-injure and also to reach out people who is self-harming. It is really important for everyone to know that this is extremely serious matter.

ACTIVITIES THAT WE CONDUCT:

Through the campaign, we

• explain type of self harming, factors, effects, prevention steps.
• introduce steps to overcome self harm.
• got some opinions about self harm from others.
• got statistics on how many know about this self harming.
• educate people on how to help people who self harm.

What is self harm?

Self-harm is a way of expressing and dealing with deep distress and emotional pain. It includes anything you do to intentionally injure yourself. Some of the more common ways include:

Cutting or severely scratching your skin

Burning or scalding yourself

Hitting yourself or banging your head

Punching things or throwing your body against walls and hard objects

Sticking objects into your skin

Intentionally preventing wounds from healing

Swallowing poisonous substances or inappropriate objects

Self-harm can also include less obvious ways of hurting yourself or putting yourself in danger, such as driving recklessly, binge drinking, taking too many drugs, and having unsafe sex.

Factors

Age. Most people who self-injure are teenagers and young adults, although those in other age groups also self-injure. Self-injury often starts in the early teen years, when emotions are more volatile and teens face increasing peer pressure, loneliness, and conflicts with parents or other authority figures.

Having friends who self-injure. People who have friends who intentionally harm themselves are more likely to begin self-injuring.

Life issues. Some people who injure themselves were neglected or abused (sexually, physically or emotionally) or experienced other traumatic events. They may have grown up and still remain in an unstable family environment, or they may be young people questioning their personal identity or sexuality. Some people who self-injure are socially isolated.

Mental health issues. People who self-injure are more likely to be highly self-critical and be poor problem-solvers. In addition, self-injury is commonly associated with certain mental disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders.

Excessive alcohol or drug use. People who harm themselves often do so while under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs.

Effect of self harming for themselves

Manage or reduce severe distress or anxiety and provide a sense of relief.

Provide a distraction from painful emotions through physical pain.

Feel a sense of control over his or her body, feelings or life situations.

Feel something — anything — even if it's physical pain, when feeling emotionally empty.

Express internal feelings in an external way.

Communicate depression or distressful feelings to the outside world.

Be punished for perceived faults.

Prevention Steps

Focus on your feelings. Instead of sharing detailed accounts of your self-harm behavior focus on the feelings or situations that lead to it. This can help you to find a solution for your problem. By this, you can solve your problems easily and prevent hurting yourselves.

Communicate in whatever way you feel most comfortable. If you're too nervous to talk in person, consider starting off the conversation with an email, text, or letter (although it's important to eventually follow-up with a face-to-face conversation). Don't feel pressured into sharing things you're not ready to talk about. You don't have to show the person your injuries or answer any questions you don't feel comfortable answering.

Understanding what triggers you to cut or self-harm is a vital step towards recovery. If you can figure out what function your self-injury serves, you can learn other ways to get those needs met-which in turn can reduce your desire to hurt yourself.

Find new coping techniques. Self-harm is your way of dealing with unpleasant feelings and difficult situations. If you're going to stop, you need to have alternative ways of coping so you can respond differently when you feel like cutting or hurting yourself:-

1.If you self-harm to express pain and intense emotions, you could:

Paint, draw, or scribble on a big piece of paper with red ink or paint.

Start a journal in which to express your feelings.

Compose a poem or song to say what you feel.

Write down any negative feelings and then rip the paper up.

Listen to music that expresses what you're feeling.

2.If you self-harm to calm and soothe yourself, you could:

Take a bath or hot shower.

Pet or cuddle with a dog or cat.

Wrap yourself in a warm blanket.

Massage your neck, hands, and feet.

Listen to calming music.

3.If you self-harm because you feel disconnected or numb, you could:

Call a friend (you don't have to talk about self-harm).

Take a cold shower.

Hold an ice cube in the crook of your arm or leg.

Chew something with a very strong taste, like chili peppers, peppermint, or a grapefruit peel.

Go online to a self-help website, chat room, or message board.

4.If you self-harm to release tension or vent anger, you could:

Exercise vigorously—run, dance, jump rope, or hit a punching bag.

Punch a cushion or mattress or scream into your pillow.

Squeeze a stress ball or squish Play-Doh or clay.

Rip something up (sheets of paper, a magazine).

Make some noise (play an instrument, bang on pots and pans).

Steps to overcome

Identify people most at risk and offer help. For instance, those at risk can be taught resilience and healthy coping skills that they can then draw on during periods of distress.

Encourage expansion of social networks. Many people who self-injure feel lonely and disconnected. Forming connections to people who don't self-injure can improve relationship and communication skills.

Raise awareness. Adults, especially those who work with children, should be educated about the warning signs of self-injury and what to do when they suspect it. Documentaries, multimedia-based educational programs and group discussions are helpful strategies.

Promote programs that encourage peers to seek help. Peers tend to be loyal to friends even when they know a friend is in crisis. Programs that encourage youths to reach out to adults may chip away at social norms that support secrecy.

Offer education about media influence. News media, music and other highly visible outlets that feature self-injury may nudge vulnerable children and young adults to experiment. Teaching children critical thinking skills about the influences around them might reduce the harmful impact.

CONCLUSION

We have to come conclusions that, whatever it is self harming should only be comitted as a last resort. Once you started doing it, you will always have the urge to keep on hurting yourself whenever you have a problem. Next, it is important for everyone out there to understand more about this matter so that whenever they come across someone who is self harm, they can try and help them.