When someone has a mental health disorder and doesn’t receive professional support, they may find unhealthy ways to cope with these complicated feelings. Also known as self-injury, self-harm is a sign of extreme emotional distress, and it’s becoming more common among young people.
Teens and young adults may inflict pain through cutting, burning, scratching, or other methods to bring a temporary feeling of calm and a release of tension. But these painful emotions quickly return. Some young people self-injure only a few times and then stop, while others continue repeatedly over a long time. Therefore, self-harming can turn into a compulsive behavior.
Children and teens can self-harm in various ways that can be hard to recognize or identify. As a parent or professional, it is crucial to know the warning signs of self-harm and how mental health services may be the best way to achieve long-term healing. Read on to learn the facts about self-harm.
What You’ll Learn
- What is self-harm?
- Why do teens engage in self-injury?
- What are the warning signs?
- How does social media play a role?
- How can you help a teen who is struggling?
Quick Read
Self-harm, also known as self-injury, is a sign of deep emotional distress and is becoming increasingly common among teens and young adults. Rather than a suicide attempt, self-harm is often an unhealthy coping mechanism used to manage overwhelming feelings like anxiety, shame, anger, or numbness. While it may bring temporary relief, the painful emotions quickly return and sometimes it leads to repeated or compulsive behavior.
Self-harm can take many forms, including cutting, burning, scratching, or even digital self-harm, and the warning signs are not always obvious. It is not a mental illness itself, but it is often linked to underlying conditions such as depression, anxiety, trauma, or eating disorders. Because self-harm is associated with an increased risk of suicide, early recognition and professional mental health support are critical. With compassionate intervention and evidence-based treatment, teens can learn healthier ways to cope and begin the path toward long-term healing.
What Is Self-Harm?
Self-harm refers to injuring or hurting yourself on purpose. Also known as self-injury, self-harm is a symptom of extreme emotional distress. Teens engage in different types of self-harm that can be hard to recognize or identify.
Teenagers and Self-Harm: Why They Do It
It may seem a bit confusing at first, but teens who cut or burn themselves are not attempting suicide. Instead, they are using methods of self-harm as an unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with difficult emotions. That’s why cutting and depression are often linked.
Self-harm is a way for some people to release feelings of pain, tension, and anxiety. These painful emotions may include anger, shame, grief, guilt, and self-loathing. They see self-injury as a way to feel more in control of their feelings, or they use it to distract themselves from their emotions or life circumstances. In addition, they may engage in self-harm because they want to punish themselves for what they see as their faults or flaws.
Moreover, teens sometimes injure themselves because the physical pain of self-harming seems better than the numbness and emptiness that come with depression. In a Trevor Project survey on self-harm among LGBTQ+ youth, participants reported self-harming “to change my emotional pain into something physical.”
Teen Self-Harm Statistics
Unfortunately, this behavior is becoming increasingly common in teens. A recent analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control reveals that up to 30 percent of teenage girls and 10 percent of boys say they have intentionally injured themselves. One study found that as many as 25 percent of young people engage in self-harm. And among LGBTQ teens, 63 percent report self-harming-behaviors.
These rates represent a steep rise over the past 10 years, especially among girls. Between 2001 and 2015, self-injury increased by 166 percent in girls aged 10 to 14 and 62 percent in girls aged 15 to 19. The majority of these increases involve the most common form of self-harm, cutting. Since 2009, the rate of cutting by younger girls has increased by 19 percent each year. Excessive scratching or cutting can result in tissue damage. Self-harm is serious. Studies indicate that self-harm is found in 40–60% of suicides.
Is Self-Harm a Mental Illness?
Self-harm or self-injury is not in itself a mental illness. Rather, it is an unhealthy coping mechanism for dealing with distress and anxiety, often as the result of an underlying mental health condition.
Several mental health conditions are associated with self-harming, including borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, anxiety, and PTSD. Self-harm can occur across different mental disorders, highlighting its relevance as a manifestation of underlying psychological issues.
Teens and young adults are at the highest risk for self-harm. Some experts. believe that teens who have experienced trauma, neglect, or abuse are at higher risk. Furthermore, teens who harm themselves often do so while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Risk Factors for Self-Harm
A 2025 review published in Acta Psychological analyzed 777 studies on self-harm, also known as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). The research roundup found that adolescents with certain experiences are at higher risk of self-harm. These include:
- Being female: The research found that teen girls with depression are more likely to have body-image issues that increase the risk of self-harm
- Being LGBTQ+: This group is subjected to more bullying, and statistically doesn’t receive the same level of support as their straight, cisgender peers.
- Struggling with anxiety and depression: As we’ve explained above, these conditions heighten the risk of teens using self-harm as a temporary relief from symptoms. The more severe and long-lasting the symptoms, the higher the risk of self-harm becomes.
- Having a history of childhood trauma: For teens with unprocessed trauma, NSSI can serve as a unhealthy coping mechanism for managing negative emotions.
Social Media and Self-Harm
Teens usually self-harm in private. However, they may use self-injury as a way of bonding with others who also experience distress and pain.
Moreover, teens with friends who self-harm are more likely to try it themselves. In addition, teens seeking relief from painful emotions can easily find information online about how to engage in different types of self-harm.
What Is Digital Self-Harm?
Digital self harm occurs when teens anonymously post cruel or hateful comments about themselves online. They may create ghost accounts or separate personas to target themselves publicly, prompting others to engage through comments, likes, or reactions.
The phenomenon gained public attention after the 2013 death of 14 year old Hannah Smith, whose suicide was initially attributed to cyberbullying on Ask.fm but was later found to involve self posted harmful comments. Similar cases, including a 2016 death linked to posts on After School, highlight the complexity of this behavior, which is often intertwined with prior experiences of bullying.
Sometimes described as digital Munchausen, digital self-harm parallels Munchausen syndrome in that individuals may harm themselves emotionally online to seek attention, or sympathy.
The Impact of Technology on Mental Health
Technology may be linked to self-harm in other ways. Most relevant, research shows that social media activity increases unhappiness in teenagers. Recent research shows that depressive symptoms and suicide rates among adolescents increased between 2010 and 2015, especially among females. And teenagers who spent more time on social media and smartphones were more likely to report mental health issues.
Experts suggest that teens’ increased use of technology over the past decade may be linked to the increasing prevalence of self-harming behavior. Moreover, girls use social media more often than boys—and they also self-injure more frequently.
The overconsumption of digital media takes away from time spent on healthier activities, such as sleeping, exercising, or spending time in nature. As a result, teens have fewer opportunities to develop positive coping methods.
Is There a Link Between Self-Harm and Suicidal Behavior?
While it is not considered a method for suicide, self-harm in teens may be associated with an increased risk of suicide. According to one study, up to 70 percent of teens who self-harm have attempted suicide at another time, and 55 percent have made multiple suicide attempts.
The Trevor Project survey found that among LGBTQ+ young people who self-injured, 59 percent had seriously considered suicide in the past year. And 23 percent reported attempting suicide in the past year. As compared to LGBTQ+ young people who did not engage in self-harm in the past year, those who did had five times greater odds of seriously considering suicide and nine times greater odds of attempting suicide.
Why does self-harm increase the risk of suicide? In adolescents who repeatedly self-harm, the temporary calming effect of self-injury can stop working. Therefore, the distress and other negative emotions become overwhelming. In other cases, teens who self-harm frequently can become used to physical pain and may become less frightened by the idea of attempting suicide. Cutting and other forms of self-harm must be addressed with professional treatment as soon as they are discovered.
What Are the Different Types of Self-Harm?
Not all forms of self-harm look the same. One of the most common types of self-harm is cutting or using a knife or other sharp object. Teens can often cut themselves as a kind of ritual that leaves patterns on the skin, such as words or symbols on their skin.
But young people can also use different forms of self-harm, such as:
- Scratching, biting, or burning the skin
- Hitting or punching themselves or the walls
- Piercing their skin with sharp objects
- Pulling out hair
- Picking at scabs and wounds
- Inserting objects into the body
- Digital self-harm
- Overdosing on drugs or drinking to excess
- Exercising to the point of collapse or injury
- Getting into fights in which they are likely to be hurt
- Banging head or body against walls and hard objects
- Having unsafe sex
Signs a Young Person is Self-Harming
Parents and other adults who work with teens should learn the red flags related to different forms of self-harm. Here are some signs and symptoms that may indicate that a teen is self-harming:
- Unexplained cuts, scratches, bruises, or other wounds, often on the wrists, arms, thighs, or torso, which they explain as the result of accidents
- Keeping sharp objects on hand
- Wearing clothes that cover up the skin, such as long sleeves or long pants, even in hot weather
- Impulsive and unstable behavior
- Expressing feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness
- Difficulties with relationships
- Blood stains on bedding, clothing, towels, or tissues
- Having sharp objects in their possession, including razors, safety pins, nail scissors, knives, needles, shards of glass, or bottle caps
- Spending extended periods alone, often in the bathroom or bedroom
- Increased isolation and social withdrawal
- Avoiding situations in which they need to reveal skin, such as swimming or changing in a locker room.
Complications and Consequences of Self-Injury
Self-injury can cause dangerous and even fatal health consequences. And if left untreated, it can have a continued negative impact on mental health.
Possible complications of self-harm include:
- Increased shame, guilt, and low self-esteem
- Wound infections
- Permanent scars or disfigurement
- Broken bones
- Isolation that results in losing friendships
- Higher risk of major depression, substance use, and suicide.
How Can Something Painful Relieve Pain?
To some, self-harming can feel like relief—like taking the lid off a pressure cooker. Self-harm usually starts as a way to relieve the build-up of pressure from distressing thoughts and feelings. While this might temporarily relieve the emotional pain, this relief is only temporary because the underlying reasons remain. This can cause guilt and shame, which can continue the cycle.
For others, self-harm is simply a way to feel something—anything. Feeling pain reminds them they are alive.
How to Help
When a young person self-harms, it is essential to understand the reason for the self-destructive behavior. So remember not to judge a child or teen who is self-injuring. They most likely already feel distressed and ashamed. Express how much you care about them, no matter what. Let them know you’re available to talk about what they’re going through if they want to share.
Here are some effective strategies you can suggest to help your child or person you care for by replacing self-harm with positive experiences. These different ways to stop self-harm will also help young people build self-esteem and authentic connections.
Social Support
Multiple studies have shown that social relationships improve mental and physical health. The more support we have, the more resilient we are. Teens and young adults who self-injure will benefit from finding trustworthy people who care about what they’re going through. Their support network can include family, peers, guidance counselors, and mentors.
Unplug From Social Media
Unfortunately, teens who self-harm sometimes find websites that support or glamorize this behavior and are drawn back into the habit. Unplugging as much as possible from their digital device is important for teens who engage in different forms of self-harm. Moreover, reducing digital media activity will support mental health overall.
Exercise
Research shows that exercise supports mental health by increasing the body’s production of endorphins. These are the brain’s “feel good” chemicals. Getting exercise or doing physical activity can increase a teen’s feelings of mastery and self-confidence. As a result, they feel less of an urge to self-harm.
Taking Control
Getting the facts and making plans can help counteract stress and negative emotions. If teens have a big project looming, they can create a schedule to keep them on track. If they’re facing an unknown situation, they can do some research so they know what to expect. Therefore, teens can reduce feelings of being out of control and decrease self-harming behavior.
Creativity
Writing, art, music, and dance can all serve as ways to express emotions. For example, writing about what’s creating stress and anxiety in your life helps you to identify outside stressors. Moreover, it can help young people pinpoint what’s going on internally.
What to Do in an Emergency
While self-harm is not the same as a suicide attempt, it can be life-threatening. Therefore, take these emergency actions if someone is actively self-harming:
- Do not leave the person alone.
- Remove anything that could be used in a suicide attempt, including firearms, alcohol, drugs, razors, or other sharp objects.
- Call the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
- Take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
Treatment for Teen and Young Adult Self-Harm in Minnesota
Treatment for self-harm and suicidal ideation at PrairieCare addresses the root causes of the self-destructive behavior, such as anxiety or depression. Our thorough assessments can also identify underlying issues that might include low self-esteem, dysfunctional family dynamics, trauma, or other mental health conditions, such as borderline personality disorder. Together, we create a comprehensive plan to deal with the complex emotions that come with the teenage years and beyond.
Throughout our continuum of care, patients can learn new coping mechanisms for dealing with difficult circumstances or painful emotions, and families can learn ways to keep their loved ones safe. Treatment provides teens with different ways to stop self-harm behaviors by substituting other, healthier behaviors, such as breathing exercises and compassionate self-talk.
The best time to get mental health services is now. Start the healing journey for you or a loved one by calling our team at 952-826-8475 or filling out our screening request form using the button below.
Sources
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- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention