Do I have to break the skin for it to be classed as self-harm?

Any activity that involves deliberate harm to oneself is classed as self harm. This can include actions from cutting, to bruising or even such things as deliberately overdosing. So no, it doesn't need to break the skin to be classed as self harm.

Of course not - anything that is intended to cause harm is considered self-harm. This includes scratching, clawing, bruising, burning, beating, breaking, cutting etc. Self-harm can come in many obscure forms that don't leave marks but still have the intention for harm.

Writing as somebody who is a volunteer administrator of a world-wide board which supports people who self-harm, I think that the answer to this question is "no". The board takes the view that the reasons which lead to use of self-harm as a coping mechanism are more important than the physical details (breaking the skin or not, etc).

No, you do not have to break your skin for it to be self harm. Self harm comes in many different forms.

No, not at all. I believe it can even be classified as self-harm if you do something to hurt yourself emotionally as well. Any kind of action or gesture that results in you feeling any kind of pain, physical or emotional, can be classed as self-harm.

No self harm can even be an act that doesn't even follow a stereotypical way of thinking of cutting deep into the skin. For example. The fact that someone is cutting themselves but only scraping, means they're are showing signs of a greater problem at work.

Absolutely not. The literal definition of self-harm is the harm of oneself. It doesn't have to do with whether or not you break the skin.

No, there are many ways to self harm, cutting is not the only way, for example bulimia also tends to be a form of self harm, digging fingernails into your skin, for me the most common one i used to do was smack my head against things, i never broke skin but i ended up with bumps and lumps everywhere. if you are doing something knowingly against your well being in the hope the pain from inside will become more physical that is self harm to me.

If you do something with the intention of harming yourself, then I'd say it's self harm. Even if it doesn't break the skin.

No, self-harm is anything that is meant to harm you, but not kill you. It can be internal harm, bruises and other things. Any kind of self-harm is bad, and as long as you hurt yourself it is classified as as self-harm.