Addicted To Self-Harm

Are you aware that May is Mental Health Awareness month?

I had to handle pupils who decided to self-harm themselves using shaving blades recently.

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This is not the first time that I had to handle such cases and it often starts to occur from the 11-year-old students.

They would use blades to cut their skin on their arms. Many of the students do it in groups away from the sight of the teachers.

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Very often, the discovery of self-harm would alarm their parents and cause great sadness.

Stress

When students were asked why they decided to harm themselves, they would often say that they were stressed.

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Some students may copy other students to do it as they wanted to feel that they are part of a group.

Many found that they feel a thrill and outlet whenever they conduct self-harm.

It is a form of release from stress through pain.

The danger of regular self-harm can be addictive due to the sudden rush of endorphins but it can last only for a short moment and the reality would still catch up with their emotions.

Mental Health

The addiction to self-harm can easily lead to mental health issue that requires professional help. We should never take it lightly and believe it may go away on its own.

When self-harm becomes an addiction and habit, they are unable to control the urge to self-harm like the need for drug.

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They may eventually lead to more serious consequences of killing themselves for the greater need of increased pain.

Other Common Causes

• Broken families
• Being Neglected by adults
• Suffering from Depression
• Constant Extreme Anxiety or Fear

In Conclusion

Most of us are not doctors so we may not know how to deal with students or children who are addicted to self-harm.

This article can raise awareness of parents and teachers to be alert of the marks on the bodies of children if they ever start to have symptoms of self-harm.

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We can take immediate action to refer them to school counsellors or professional help to get treatment rather than allowing ignorance for such behaviours to become serious and deep addiction that may be too hard to be uprooted.

This may also indicate the need to pay more attention to our children at home without neglecting their emotional needs.

Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://fun2learn.vornix.blog/2019/05/05/addicted-to-self-harm/

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