[hocus pocus]

There are some rough ideas here, any thoughts on them?

Many people ask "Is this self harm?" with various scenarios they're dealing with on a daily basis. I hope to make this clear what self harm is, and what is considered self harm, and what's not. [Might need more of an intro.]

The definition of self harm is:
"Self-injury, self-inflicted violence, self-injurious behavior or self-mutilation is defined as a deliberate, intentional injury to one’s own body that causes tissue damage or leaves marks for more than a few minutes which is done to cope with an overwhelming or distressing situation." [I think we should rewrite this or use what is down below.]

Anything you do to physically hurt yourself in order help yourself cope with a situation is self harm. [I really want to put emphasis on this because there are a lot of little things people do for self-harm (which probably should not be mentioned here) that are less common so people don't think it is self-harm. I know underlining text is not typically done in an article but regardless of how we format it, that may be something to consider. I also want to mention that self-harm is a coping skill. Not a good one, but that is essentially what it is.]

Things considered self harm:
-Cutting
-Burning
-Branding (Taking hot objects and putting them on your skin)
-Bruising

-Picking at your skin
-Scratching
-Taking off scabs/Picking at old wounds
-Pulling out hair
-Hitting
-Bone breaking
-Biting
-Multiple piercings/tattoos (Can be self harm if done for the pain)
-Drinking harmful chemicals (Just to harm body)
-Smoking/drugs (Just to harm body)
-Eating behaviors [There's another phrase for this but my mind doesn't know what it is right now.]
-Sexual self-harm [Might need to expand on this]
[I don't know if I like the bullet point format here. Thoughts on that? Maybe we could break it down with headings or something.]


And this isn't even a full list. If you are doing any of those things, you should ask yourself if you're doing it just for the pain, or to make yourself feel better. If you are, it's probably self harm.

If you do find something you're doing is self harming, you should see a professional, such as a doctor, a therapist, a psychiatrist, or someone similar who can help you. People will understand, though not everyone will, professionals are trained to deal with situations like yours. They're there to help.

Source:
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm



[Things to link to Off the top of my head, going to need to look for more]
Safety zone/alternatives, hotlines, different articles (there is a sexual self-harm one etc]