Self-Harm myth busted

29 Sep 2014: Self-harm is a hard behaviour to watch people go through as you can see that there is a lot of underlying emotional pain that the person is going through and the self harming gives a release to that pain in a physical way.

I have found a guide to myth busting facts on self-harm that you can find here: http://www.headspace.org.au/media/27559/self-harm_mythbuster.pdf

As I read through the guide I saw that a lot of what the media reports as ‘fact' is actually ‘myth'.

People who self-harm are not seeking attention, they are not “Emo's”, or necessarily depressed. They are responding to intense pain, distress, or overwhelming negative feelings, thoughts or memories.

I think that is it also helpful to remember that self-harm is a behaviour or symptom, not a disorder or an illness.