Self-harm is deliberate. It’s often an escape or form of self-punishment, but you can learn to change self-harm behaviors into more adaptive styles of coping. How you adapt and respond to challenges ...

Self-destructive behavior is when a person takes actions that are sure to harm themselves. It can range from isolating themselves from others to harming their own body and behaviors such as gambling.

Among adolescents, rates of nonfatal self-harm may be higher in older teens, females, and those who are multiracial, according to an analysis of data from hospitals in California. Researchers analyzed ...

Editor’s Note: This story contains details of self-harm that some readers may find upsetting or triggering. Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental ...

Content warning: this story includes graphic descriptions of dangerous self-harm behaviors. The Google-funded AI company Character.AI is hosting chatbots designed to engage the site’s largely underage ...

My first introduction to self-harm in autism was with headbanging. While headbanging is a relatively uncommon version of self-harm in the general population, for autistic individuals, headbanging is ...

Hurting yourself—or thinking about hurting yourself—is a sign of emotional pain. Most people who self-harm do so as a way to cope with anger, negative feelings, painful memories, or difficult ...

This research was conducted as part of a PhD project supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London (ES/S012567/1), the ...

Emotional self-harm refers to negative thoughts that damage someone’s self-esteem and mental health. This can manifest in overly critical self-talk or ruminating on past mistakes. Although the term ...

Although self-harm is not formally classified as an addiction in the DSM-5-TR, some experts argue that it can manifest as a behavioral addiction due to its effects on the brain’s reward system.