Скачать или смотреть Why does self-harm make me feel better?

No matter how we feel about self-harm right now, it’s really important that we realise and remember that self-harm likely arises in response to a range of situations and struggles that a person is feeling. In some way it’s helping you cope with, respond to or express what is happening.
BUT – even if self-harm makes us feel better it doesn’t mean that it makes us better or that it is good for us.
So why does it feel helpful for us?
Well first off, sometimes we may find self-harm takes our focus off the mental struggles and onto the physical pain, or to a thing we know is manageable or a feeling we recognise. OR if we find we feel numb and disconnected, self-harm may allow us to feel something again (or at least able to cope with the pain).
BUT to understand this some more - one idea comes from brain chemistry.
So let’s talk about the chemicals called Endorphins
Endorphins are released in response to pain and they are a natural pain-relief for our bodies. This means that when we get injured, we release endorphins and they (along with other chemicals and hormones!) help us cope with the pain, reducing what we feel.
It’s this same chemical that gets released when we self-harm, filling our body with a slight pain relief and helping us numb the pain of both the physical injury and mental struggle.
That means that we can feel better because in that moment we no longer feel the pain of the mental struggle and it can give us a momentary feeling of relief from what’s been building up inside.
This may still sound like it’s not a bad thing, so we want to also realise the damage this is causing. Unfortunately, this pattern of Endorphin release can become repetitive and over time we can feel addicted to self-harm because of the need for the endorphin release and that’s going to be bad for us for two reasons. First – it means that we are going to get stuck in a cycle of hurting ourselves,
Second – it means that overtime we may need to cause more damage in order to get the same release of endorphins, putting us in more danger and causing more damage to us and to other people.
#recovery #mentalhealth #support ‪@beheadstronguk‬