Functions of Self-injury
Self-injury is considered to be a maladaptive behavior. That is, it can serve the same function as less damaging behaviors (e. g. to manage or reduce stress) but has negative health consequences (e. g. physical damage to the body) compared to other responses (e. g. meditating, taking a walk). There are many functions that self-injury can serve and they roughly fall into the broad categories of interpersonal (relating to other people) and intrapersonal (related to internal thoughts and emotions) functioning. Interpersonal influences can include nonverbal communication of desiring help from others or one’s inability to deal with a stressful situation. Intrapersonal functions can include affect regulation (i. e. regulating overwhelming emotions) and anti-dissociation (i. e. to generate feelings when experiencing emotional numbness).
Read more about this topic: Self-harm
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