[Ennui.]

Hi there,

First of all, welcome to TH! I hope you get what you're looking for!

Besides the fact that there is the possibility of the self harm becoming more serious, it's considered self harm because even though it's not as deep as say, cutting, self harm is defined as when a person deliberately inflicts harm or damage to one's body to cope with a feeling or urge. Since you're leaving marks and inflicting harm, you are self harming.

Self harm is also an addiction. That means you'll start craving it more frequently (even at times when you're not really frustrated), or maybe you'll end up wanting to do more to get the same feeling you do now, almost like a person with a substance addiction would. Most people don't think their self harm will get bad, but it does.

Not only that, but it's just not a good way to cope with your feelings. Besides it being addictive, you have to worry about hiding the scratches from people you don't want to know about it, because even though you can make excuses at first, if it keeps happening people may get suspicious. Also, you aren't really solving any of your problems, and so they come back. Instead, maybe use a healthier way to cope. This is a list of alternatives to self harm. Some of them even give sensations, so maybe you'll want to try those, or maybe to get a release you can do self expression or even exercise.

If you want you can try to speak to someone like a family member or friend, someone at school, a doctor, or a therapist about it and they can probably help you cope with the frustration in better ways.

It's definitely better to break the addictive cycle and focus on learning better ways to cope than self harming, though.

You can do this!

-Dez