Self Harm & Suicide Attempts
Self-harm and suicide attempts are two alarming things or signs that a person or individual is too depressed or has their mental health spiraling downwards.
Self-harm is defined as an act of someone hurting themselves intentionally – but this doesnt have to automatically mean someone is suicidal as self harm is also referred to as non-suicidal self injury (“Self-harm” from Health Direct; https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/self-harm#what) . You can recognise this from or on someone who has unusual injuries, avoids exposing their body or has drastic mood swings.
SH behaviors are as such:
Cutting, burning or hitting yourself
Binge eating or starvation
Putting oneself in a risky situation
Alcohol or drug abuse
Overdosing on prescription medications
Self-harm describes the behaviour where someone causes harm to themselves simply as a way to cope up with difficult or distressing feelings or thoughts (“The Truth About Self-Harm” from Mental Health Foundation ; https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/truth-about-self-harm)
Suicide , on the other hand, is defined as death that’s caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. It is when someone harms themselves with the intention to really end their life. It is considered as a public health problem (“Facts About Suicide” from Centers For Disease Control And Prevention” ; https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/index.html)
It is known to be the 12th leading cause of death in the US. (“Suicide and Suicide Prevention” from American Psychological Association ; https://www.apa.org/topics/suicide)
My Thoughts On This/My Own Experience
I’m not gonna lie.. I myself went through this phase especially during my school years after receiving death threats from my schoolmates, those who hated me for no reason at all… I’ve suffered from mental health issues too.
I’ve gone through this point where I lost all hope of wanting to live and started cutting myself. I’ve isolated myself from people and prefered being all alone.
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