What is considered self harm and how can I get my kid to stop it?

What Is Self Harm?

Self harm is the intentional injuring of someon’s skin or body, generally without the intention of suicide. It’s serious, and can include behaviors such as cutting, burning or scratching oneself among other things. If your child is engaging in these kinds of behaviors, you should most likely get them in to see a therapist right away. 

If your kid is drawing on themself, the question may be what is your kid drawing? Is it art or pictures? In that case, it may just be a sign of boredom. If she’s drawing something that seems to show an intention of self harm in some way, then again, perhaps seeing a therapist is advisable.

Get That Kid a Paper and Pencil!

As usual, ideally you need to get her to talk about it! Find out what’s going on and get her something else to focus on. Ideally try to find a way for her to channel that energy into healthy creative or physical outlets. In our practice we see lots of kids getting into knitting as an outlet for this kind of energy.

There’s more to say on the subject of self harm, and we talk about it in this Tips on Teens:

“Recently my fourteen year old daughter has taken to drawing on herself and picking the skin off the bottom of her feet. I’ve heard that this could be a form of self harm. As far as I can see she’s not cutting herself or doing anything like that. I’m wondering if I should be worried though. Also, it’s just kind of gross! Any techniques to get her to stop?”