Self-Harm Treatment

What is Self-Harm?

Self-harm is the act of harming a person’s body on purpose and often with a compulsive feeling to do it. People who self-injure often perform the same type of action, such as cutting themselves, burning themselves, breaking their bones, piercing their skin with sharp objects, and other behaviors. The individual, often a teenager, takes steps to hide the proof they self-injure by wearing long sleeves, jackets, pants, and other types of clothing that cover up wounds and bruises. 

The American Psychological Association (APA) estimates that approximately 17% of teenagers have engaged in self-harm at least once in their lives. This equates to about one in six teens. Some people grow out of the behavior, while others continue it for years or decades. Regardless of how long a person has been engaging in the behavior, they need to attend self-harm addiction treatment.

Why Do People Self-Harm?

People self-harm for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they can point to the exact reasons while other times they don’t understand what draws them to use the behavior.

Common reasons someone self-harms include:

• To relieve anxiety
• To cope with distressing symptoms such as depression and mania
• To provide a feeling of letting off steam when they feel an emotional overload
• A reaction to feeling anger, fear, and other painful emotions because self-harm takes their minds off those feelings
• They feel numb and self-harming helps them feel something, even if it’s pain

Is Self-Harm Addictive?

Self-harming can become a compulsive behavior that the individual feels unable to stop. While it is not officially an addictive behavior, such as abusing alcohol or drugs, it can be difficult to stop self-injuring without seeking professional help because the habit has become so ingrained. 

Risks of Self-Harm

Someone who self-injures even once risks causing a temporary medical issue or a permanent injury. The risks include:

• Scarring
• Infection
• Bruises
• Blood loss
• Unhealed bone breaks
• Untreated wounds or self-treated wounds becoming infected and worsening
• Needing to go to a doctor or visit the ER

People who self-harm have an increased chance of abusing drugs and alcohol or developing a mental health disorder. 

How Can Self-Harm Treatment in Georgia Help?

Once self-harming becomes a compulsive behavior, it becomes difficult to break the cycle. Self-harm treatment programs help people target the reasons they harm themselves and help them resolve them. Therapy done in programs provides a safe space for people to discuss their behaviors and emotions. They learn different ways to channel their urges into something positive, like drawing, journaling, and other physical activities. 

Our Self-Harm Treatment Programs

Serenity Grove offers three types of self-harm addiction treatment. We provide Residential Treatment that takes place in a homelike facility where the person lives temporarily. After that or in place of it, they can attend an Outpatient Program. With this option, the person lives in their home and travels to us for therapy sessions.

Finally, if the individual has a dual diagnosis, we can treat that beginning with a Detox Program. Dual diagnosis means they have both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder. 

The Importance of Self-Harm Treatment

Without self-harm treatment, people tend to continue with their behaviors and often escalate how often they do them and to what degree. The longer a person goes without seeking help, the more they rely on hurting themselves as a way to try to self-soothe. Attending different therapies helps the person identify unresolved issues that make them have the urge to self-harm and work to resolve them. 

Why Choose Serenity Grove?

Several benefits come to those who attend our self-harm addiction treatment. They learn to tackle the reasons that trigger them to harm themselves. This can include past events and current life challenges that cause painful and stressful emotions and memories.

Through a variety of therapies, the person learns to resolve these issues and reduce their urge to hurt themselves. Once they are on a path of healing mental illness symptoms, self-harming ceases to be an urge.