Self-harm - Signs and Symptoms

Signs and Symptoms

Eighty percent of self-harm involves stabbing or cutting the skin with a sharp object. However, the number of self-harm methods are only limited by an individual's inventiveness and their determination to harm themself; this includes, but is not limited to burning, self-poisoning, alcohol abuse, self-embedding of objects and forms of self-harm related to anorexia and bulimia. The locations of self-harm are often areas of the body that are easily hidden and concealed from the detection of others. As well as defining self-harm in terms of the act of damaging the body, it may be more accurate to define self-harm in terms of the intent, and the emotional distress that the person is attempting to deal with. Neither the DSM-IV-TR nor the ICD-10 provide diagnostic criteria for self-harm. It is often seen as only a symptom of an underlying disorder, though many people who self-harm would like this to be addressed. A formal proposal is currently under review (2010) to include Non-Suicidal Self-Injury as a distinct diagnosis in the forthcoming 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).