A common form of self-injury involves making shallow cuts to the skin of the arms or legs. This is casually referred to as "cutting"; a person who routinely does this may be colloquially called "a cutter". Localized multiple cuts, especially those similar in appearance, are sometimes characteristic of cutting, but are not reliable indicators of self-injury. Less frequently, this behaviour may involve cutting other parts of the body, including the breasts and sexual organs. Other examples of self-injury include:

* Punching, hitting and scratching
* Choking, constricting of the airway
* Self-biting of hands, limbs, tongue, lips, or arms
* Picking at wounds, ulceration, sutures, or blemishes
* Burning, including cigarette burns, and self-incendiarism (as well as eraser burns)
* Stabbing self with wire, pins, nails, or pens
* Ingesting corrosive chemicals, batteries, or pins [6]
* Over-dosing on medication and/or alcohol, without suicidal intent

Some people also report self-poisoning as a form of repetitive self-injury with no suicidal intent. [4]

A popular misconception of self-injury is that it is an attention seeking behavior. In truth, many people who self-injure are very self-conscious of their wounds and scars and go to great lengths to conceal their behavior from others. They may offer alternative explanations for their injuries or conceal their scars with clothing. [4] [7]

In the strictest terms, self-harm is a general term for self-damaging activities (which could include alcohol abuse and bulimia), whereas self-injury refers more specifically to the practice of cutting, bruising, poisoning, over-dosing (without suicidal intent), burning or otherwise directly injuring the body. [8] Many people, including health-care workers, define self-harm based around the act of damaging one's own body. It may be more accurate to define self-harm based around the intent, and the emotional distress that the person wishes to deal with. An example of this form of definition can be seen in those provided by the support group LifeSIGNS [9].

Neither the DSM-IV-TV nor the ICD-10 provide diagnostic criteria for self-injury. It is often seen as only a symptom of an underlying disorder, [5] though many people who self-injure would like this to be addressed. [7]

posted by GORGE @ 5:51 AM