Emotional self-harm refers to negative thoughts that damage someone’s self-esteem and mental health. This can manifest in overly critical self-talk or ruminating on past mistakes. Although the term ...

Self-harm involves intentionally hurting one’s own body. A person can try various alternatives to self-harm, such as spending time with friends or pets, listening to music, or learning harm ...

Emergency department visits for self-harm have spiked since the pandemic. Experts explain the psychology behind the behavior and how to overcome it. Megan walked the halls of her suburban Houston ...

As a parent, if you suspect your child may be engaging in self-harming behaviors, you may not be sure what to do to help. Psychiatrist Thomas Conover, MD, explains how to identify signs of self-harm, ...

Content warning: this story includes graphic descriptions of dangerous self-harm behaviors. The Google-funded AI company Character.AI is hosting chatbots designed to engage the site’s largely underage ...

This article discusses self-harm and suicide. If you are thinking about committing suicide or engaging in self-harm, dial 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This article also ...

As many as one in six teenagers have self-harmed at some point in their lives. As well as being an indicator of emotional pain, self-harm is also the best-known predictor of death by suicide—yet ...

My first introduction to self-harm in autism was with headbanging. While headbanging is a relatively uncommon version of self-harm in the general population, for autistic individuals, headbanging is ...

Among adolescents, rates of nonfatal self-harm may be higher in older teens, females, and those who are multiracial, according to an analysis of data from hospitals in California. Researchers analyzed ...

Self-harm is deliberate. It’s often an escape or form of self-punishment, but you can learn to change self-harm behaviors into more adaptive styles of coping. How you adapt and respond to challenges ...

Although self-harm is not formally classified as an addiction in the DSM-5-TR, some experts argue that it can manifest as a behavioral addiction due to its effects on the brain’s reward system.

Editor’s Note: This story contains details of self-harm that some readers may find upsetting or triggering. Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental ...