When the effects of mental health linger in a child for an extended period of time, the results can be devastating. We’ve already seen how that child can harm others, but what about themselves? A mental illness might not lead every child to suicidal tendencies, but has a great risk of causing self-injurious behaviors.
What Exactly is it?
Self-injurious behavior or “self-harm” can be thought of as any form of physical harm that an individual places on himself or herself. This can come in various forms with some of the more common ones being:
- Cutting skin
- Burning skin
- Hitting yourself or banging your head
- Preventing wounds from healing properly
- Swallowing harmful substances
Why?
Helpguide.org describes self-harm as a way of “expressing and dealing with deep distress and emotional pain”. Performing these actions makes the individual feel better about themselves. The problem, though, is that it’s only temporary relief to a much larger issue.
Link to Mental Health
A person who is committing self-injurious behavior is doing so for deep reasons. A large part of the time it’s due to feelings of depression or anxiety, two common mental health illnesses. Often times these illnesses go either unnoticed or untreated, leading to self-harm. Although the self-injured are not necessarily harming themselves in order to commit suicide, those who do harm themselves are much more likely to commit suicide later in life.
If any of the signs mentioned earlier are noticed, it’s mandatory that action be taken. Self-harm can be prevalent in many different forms, and figuring out the cause is the first step to prevention.
Mental Health Recovery 
