Did you engage in self-injury in childhood or adolescence?

Page 1 of 1 [ 14 posts ] 


Did you engage in self-injury in childhood and adolescence?
Definitely no 53%  53%  [ 8 ]
Rather no 7%  7%  [ 1 ]
Rather yes 13%  13%  [ 2 ]
Definitely yes 27%  27%  [ 4 ]
Total votes : 15

nca14
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,320
Location: Poland

09 Aug 2025, 6:37 am

Image
The graph about proportion and direction of issues in four subtypes of autism mentioned in articles like https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum ... -subtypes/ (Untangling biological threads from autism’s phenotypic patchwork reveals four core subtypes) and https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum ... es-traits/ (Four autism subtypes map onto distinct genes, traits) shows that social-behavioral subtype of autism engages in self-injury nearly as often as broadly affected subtype of autism and mixed ASD with developmental delay subtype shows rather moderate prevalence of self-injury while moderatel challenges subtype has no tendencies to self-injury.

I do not remember having problems with self-injury at any point of my life, I see self-injury pointless and nonsensical. I have general aversion to pain, suffering and risk... I had no developmental delay and I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome from ICD-10 classification in 2008. I had OCD symptoms in later childhood and (even more) in adolescence and I was diagnosed with OCD when I was about 17 years old officially (co-morbid with AS). Maybe I have ADHD-C. I had bizarre, disruptive behaviors when I was going to schools when I was 5 - 15 years old. I did not think about having eye contact and having non-romantic close friends when I was below about 16 years old (when I did not know about these features as symptoms of mental disorders or neurodevelopmental issues). I was victim of school mobbing and bullying by about ten years when I was going to elementary school and middle school/lower secondary school/intermediate school/junior high school (Polish: gimnazjum, now not existing education level in Poland).



Tamaya
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 May 2025
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,651
Location: England

09 Aug 2025, 7:06 am

Never. The thought never occurred to me.


_________________
My diagnosis story and why it was a traumatic experience for me:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=416910&start=1056#p9695026

Please notify me if there's a spelling mistake or an obvious autocorrect error in my posts.


timf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Oct 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,245

09 Aug 2025, 9:16 am

Often the component of anxiety management is overlooked in self harm. If one considers things as divergent as eating disorders and cutting, the desire to feel in control can lead people into harmful actions. This temporary relief is often at the expense of neglected issues only worsening.



Harmonie
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2024
Gender: Female
Posts: 510
Location: New England

09 Aug 2025, 4:31 pm

Nothing intentional, although I did have suicidal spells, I never intentionally hurt myself. My automatic habits of picking at my lips and my fingers to the point of bleeding is something I've done since childhood, though. Not exactly self harm in terms of I intend to do it... but I still don't know why I do it. Is there something more healthy that could fill whatever it is that is making me want to do that?


_________________
Diagnosed with ADHD, Strongly Suspecting I'm also Autistic


Tamaya
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 May 2025
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,651
Location: England

09 Aug 2025, 4:56 pm

When I was younger I sometimes picked at my gum if I was worried about something specific, but I don't really count that as self-harm, at least not in a worrying way. Otherwise, I never self-harmed, despite being a very anxious child and adult.

As an adult the only time I may self-harm is if I feel nauseous, because of my Emetophobia. I claw at my knees or stamp my feet hard on the floor, just to give my brain something else to focus on and stop me feeling nauseous. When I had norovirus nearly 8 years ago I really thought about suicide, and that was the first time in my life I had ever actually considered suicide. I just preferred to die than to vomit.

Oh, and admittedly I did sometimes whack myself in the head during angry outbursts, as a way of letting out frustration with myself and irrationally thinking that by whacking myself in the head with my hand it'd rewire my brain into a nice NT brain. I'd even scream "I HATE YOU, BRAIN!! !" as I was whacking myself, because I hated myself. Since going on Sertraline I have only done this on a very rare occasion when I got really frustrated with myself for not having as many friends as my sister or for believing that I had caused my mum to get cancer by giving her stress when I was younger. It's like I want to punish my brain for being me.

I've even whacked myself once or twice when getting into fights online and being called names, it was so distressing to see myself being called a bully and a narcissist and a racist and all those other derogatory terms, when it isn't in my nature to be those things. At least I've learnt from that though, so that's one good thing.


_________________
My diagnosis story and why it was a traumatic experience for me:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=416910&start=1056#p9695026

Please notify me if there's a spelling mistake or an obvious autocorrect error in my posts.


Last edited by Tamaya on 09 Aug 2025, 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

lostonearth35
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,880
Location: On a planet where I don't belong.

09 Aug 2025, 4:58 pm

When I was in my preteens and early teens I would sometimes bang my head against the door or the wall during one of my meltdowns. Even though I normally stopped because it hurt too much, I'm worried now about CTE or dementia, like what boxers or NA football players get. :(



nick007
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 28,552
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic military dictatorship called USA

09 Aug 2025, 10:23 pm

I'm not sure how to vote here. I had BAD skin eczema(Atopic Dermatitis) as a kid & tween & I often scratched till I bled. I scratched because of the itching but scratching also became something of a habit. I scratch more when I'm stressed or angry but I itch more during those times. I'm not sure if this counts as self-injury since it's directly related to a physical medical condition. It has other skin problems besides just itching.

Some people like my mom said I was harming myself by my extremely picky eating & refusing to eat anything when food I liked was not available. Some people were worried I'd die because of how skinny I was due to me not liking the food & mom being frustrated with cooking special meals just for me. I don't think of that as self-injury though but some would disagree.

The only time I intentionally harmed myself was shortly after me & my first girlfriend broke up when I was 20. I was dealing with a psychotic depression. I saw her bragging online about how she woke up in the hospital a couple days before from drinking too much & I watched my body grab a connstrction grade boxcutter & slashed my upper arm 9x. I snapped out of it right after & my dad brought me to the ER to get some superglue stuff put on my arm. I started seeing a psychiatrist & taking three different types of psych meds for the next five years. The scars still look nasty but more faded. Of coarse it's the lowest ones that look the worst because they're more likely to be noticed wearing short sleeves. My current girlfriend actually isn't turned off by them but she has her own various mental issues. She sees em as a sign that I've been through hell & somehow made it through the worst of it.


_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
~King Of The Hill


"Hear all, trust nothing"
~Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #190
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ru ... cquisition


Edna3362
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Oct 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,727
Location: ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔

09 Aug 2025, 10:35 pm

Does basically scratching something until it bleed because it's annoying itchy and I cannot stand it counts?

Does peeling the skin off the edge of my fingernails and lips because I got so bored count and just fiddling with my fingers and mouthing isn't enough?

Does headbanging because of a very painful acute headache that couldn't pass fast enough because I don't have the meds for it count?

Does involuntarily getting injured and bleed somewhere in my upper respiratory count via years and years of relentless chronic sneezing with no relief count?


If none, then no.
While my meltdowns and whatever emotional overwhelm are usually violent, I'm not it's target.
Also I just never had a single suicidal thought since 14. And if I had a suicidal thought, it only literally happened one time, and then never again.


_________________
Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.


auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 115,199
Location: the island of defective toy santas

10 Aug 2025, 1:22 am

I still have to resist the urge to peel my lips.



babybird
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 96,102
Location: UK

10 Aug 2025, 8:20 am

The earliest memory I have of injuring myself was when I was about 6

The last memory I have of self injury was about 2 months ago and I'm still recovering

It's something I'm working on


_________________
we have existence


Harmonie
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2024
Gender: Female
Posts: 510
Location: New England

10 Aug 2025, 3:37 pm

auntblabby wrote:
I still have to resist the urge to peel my lips.


Do you have any techniques that help you?

I'm looking for one especially because I've been really bad about doing it lately.


_________________
Diagnosed with ADHD, Strongly Suspecting I'm also Autistic


nick007
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 28,552
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic military dictatorship called USA

10 Aug 2025, 3:45 pm

auntblabby wrote:
I still have to resist the urge to peel my lips.
I pick my lips when the skin gets dry & cracked because the sensation is annoying & shortly after my lips heal & look better compared to what they were before I picked. Like my skin eczema, I'm not sure if this counts as self-injury since it's directly related to a physical medical issue.


_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
~King Of The Hill


"Hear all, trust nothing"
~Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #190
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ru ... cquisition


King Kat 1
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Aug 2020
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,738
Location: In an underground undisclosed location

28 Oct 2025, 8:36 am

I remember smacking and hitting myself sometimes, not hard but enough to make it hurt. Like if I did something to embarrass myself or did something stupid. I still do this sometimes, later on when I am alone.


_________________
Lying sideways atop crumpled sheets and no covers, he decides to dream
Dream up a new self for himself-Pearl Jam


annionanniayanna
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 3 Oct 2025
Age: 14
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 13
Location: Dream Island, Goiky (ifykyk)

28 Oct 2025, 7:25 pm

yes, and i still do. (cuz im still a teen)

tw: s/h, please proceed w/ caution..

i would usually do it by banging my head against the wall or make scars on my chest via a knife. i do it when i get way too overwelmed, have a meltdown, gone insane, or smth..

i think its caused by my parents, school, and well...stuff... but i dont know and i havent recieved professional treatment yet, but im hoping to do so!


_________________
- the #1 uzi and ic-0n simp ever.

california gurls, we're unforgettable! daisy du- oh wait nvm-