A Brief Guide to Self-Harm and Unhealed Childhood Trauma

a post by Darius Cikanavicius for the World of Psychology’s ”best of“ blog

Self-harm is a commonly misunderstood psychological phenomenon. Some people believe that those who harm themselves are simply stupid because why else a person would do that. Others think that self-harm is only attention-seeking behavior. Some even call it selfish.

What is self-harm?

Before digging deeper, let’s first define what constitutes self-harm. Self-harmful behavior is a behavioral pattern that results in harm to yourself. A very simple example of that is cutting.

Another, more common form of self-harm is poor self-care. Here, while person is not harming themselves directly or even immediately, the lack of self-loving and self-caring behavior can be incredibly harmful, especially in the long run.

The ultimate form of self-harm is suicide. Here, the person’s pain is too great and they see no hope that it can ever get better.

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Makes a lot of sense.

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