Why do I feel the need to physically harm myself when I feel depressed?

I blame myself for the way i feel and the situations i'm in, therefore i feel i deserve the pain and suffering..

Because you feel like it's the only solution. You're probably hurting yourself because you feel like punishing yourself. Emotional pain is just as bad as physical pain so by hurting on the inside could make you want to hurt on the outside. To me... physical pain numbs the emotional pain which is why I did it.

**NOTE: I do not condone self harming as a way of coping** The feeling of needing to physically harm oneself when feeling depressed can occur for a few different reasons. This is something I have dealt with for many years, and am still working through it.But here are the most common reasons I've done it or have heard other people have self harmed: 1. It gives a sense of control-when we're depressed we can't really control whether or not we're happy. We just end up in this "mood" and anyone that has dealt with depression, knows that you can't just turn it on or off whenever you want to. 2. We want to feel something-often times when people are depressed they feel emotionally "numb", but if they cut,burn, scratch, pull their hair out, binge, purge, or any other way of self harming, it gives them the sense of feeling SOMETHING; even if it does have negative affects. 3. It's distracting-Sometimes when being depressed it can come with a lot of unwanted thoughts, and all we want is for those thoughts to go away! We need a distraction, and sometimes the normal ways of coping (ie listening to music, journaling, taking a really hot/cold shower/bath, going for a walk) don't work, so we turn to self harming. I know that for me personally there have been times that I've self harmed and even though it only gave me 15 minutes of "peace" from unwanted thoughts, that was enough for me. No, self harming is not the way to deal with our problems, it doesn't make our problems go away, it doesn't really fix anything....but it's something people deal with every single day and it's something I wish was addressed more often. If this is something that you struggle with please, please, talk with someone-there are so many other resources out there to use as a way of coping with depression, stress, or any other emotions. Realize that it's ok to have these emotions-we're human, but they need to be dealt with appropriately. Stay strong!

Harming yourself accomplishes two things. First it is a form of punishing yourself so you can feel as badly on the outside as you do on the inside. Secondly, it releases endorphins and temporarily makes you feel better. Unfortunately it's not a good overall strategy and the harm required to feel better escalates over time. It's best to deal with what's depressing you in other ways and avoid the harm cycle altogether.

When you feel depressed, you often feel guilty and like you deserve pain. This can lead to several different forms of self harm.

Because you take mental, emotional pain and imagine it as physical. You want it out. So cutting the flesh feels like an escape. The blood lost is like looking at the pain being left from your body. Of course, this never ends the pain. It never helps.

Scientifically speaking, pain releases endorphins, so causing yourself physical pain brings out the feel-good receptors. Also, looking at it in a bit of a different way, it's a way for you to have control when you feel like you're losing it.

Cause you need to prove yourself you feel something even if it is pain, and the sensation is relaxing in a strange way

Some people use this as another way to express their emotions. This sometimes releases tension that someone has.

It's either an automatic reacton, you associate depression with the harm. It's a way to cope, although not a very good one. Take a red marker and write, draw, design where you would normally cut. You might feel release when you do it but try to redirect your actions, hold an ice cube until you can't stand it,

Self-harm often gives a sense of release due to the release of adrenaline and dopamine that comes with seeing injuries and feeling pain. People may also self-harm as a cry for help or because they feel like they need to be punished for something.

Because when we are depress.. we just need someone to blame.. its human nature and the easiest prey is ourselves..and we want to hurt ourselves so we feel less depression as our mind would be divert.. but keep that in mind would the physical harming do anything? I don't think it would just increase the pain.. You could harm yourself but the strength required for harming yourself, if you could use half of it.. you would be out of this depression. Life would never throw anything bigger than your strength.. and the things you're facing is not your fault.. yourself need love.. and care. Don't depend on anyone to love you or care for you.. Love yourself, Care about yourself.. so anyone would see, how to treat you.

Because many people believe they can 'see' pain leaving the body this way. Harming yourself will not take away the pain mentally. It starts in the mind - following mindfullness, practicing the ability to control emotions and creating a safe balanced enviromment for yourself. Open up, speak to someone, chat online.

thats natural ......to be honest you feel that way ...and its like many causes of that problem at the moment so don't worry

Some people feel guilty about their depression so they want to harm themselves to punish for the issue. This is not the best solution. Talk and learn more about yourself with a listener is the solution.

Self harm is often a symptom of depression. Naturally, when one feels more depressed, they will lean on the things that their mind has connected with depressed feelings; such as self harm. The great thing about this is that you are able to identify a trigger of your self harming. By learning more about depression, you can identify what is causing this behavior and start the road to recovery:)

If you've been doing it for a long time already, your first thoughts on what to do if you're depressed might be the same on what you are usually doing already. In your case, Physically harming yourself is the way you cope up with your feelings. It's not a healthy way of releasing your feelings. There are other ways of expressing it i.e. writing, drawing, painting, listening to music or maybe you can also talk to someone (a friend/family member/therapist) to whom you can think can help you.

Sometimes people believe that, that is the only release they have to help with the emotions they are dealing with.

It's a negative way to express you're emotions. You feel like the only way you can stop feeling and just focus on one thing is by harming yourself. And maybe for that split second, it takes your mind away from all the depressed feelings, but after that split second, the feelings will come back and you will feel them harder.

When feeling depressed, you may not know how to cope, so you feel physically harming yourself is the only thing you can do.

At first, it can be a form of punishment, or a stress relieve. Self harming, or cutting, causes pain in your body. Your brain will release chemicals like endorphins, to deal with this pain, and make it tolerable. Over time, your body can become addicted to these chemicals, and then you feel a need or craving for them. Your body associates these chemicals with self harm, so it's negatively reinforcing the idea that self harming makes you feel good and better.

It can help you return to reality in way. When you self harm it may make you feel like you can be back in reality. It can also possibly be because you feel numb and it helps you to feel like things are real.

Emotional and physical pain are dealt with in the same areas of the brain. When some people feel emotional pain (depression, anxiety, anhedonia, other such pain), they seek to relieve this pain through physical pain. It sounds counterintuitive but with things like cutting/burning, the physical pain is sharp, acute and intense and then the removal of that pain feels like "relief" - as in, once you stop. This "relief" can help relieve the emotional pain. However, self harm is not physically or emotionally safe and is only a temporary solution to ongoing emotional issues that will come back again and again.