Self Harm in Children

Self-harm is when somebody intentionally damages or injures their body. It's usually a way of coping with or expressing overwhelming emotional distress.  The intention is more often to punish themselves, express their distress, or relieve unbearable tension. Sometimes it's a mixture of all three.

There are many different ways people can intentionally harm themselves, such as:

• cutting or burning their skin
• punching or hitting themselves
• poisoning themselves with tablets or liquids, or similar

Self-harm, or self-injury, describes a wide range of things people deliberately do to themselves that appear to cause some kind of physical hurt. It can still be very hard for parents and carers to know about - or witness - self-harming behaviour in their children.

People often try to keep self-harm a secret because of shame or fear of discovery.