My daughter told me she self-harms but I don't understand, what does it feel like to do something like this to cope?

There are MANY reasons people resort to self-harm. I would listen closely to any hints she gives about why she harms (numb, angry, trapped, anxious, depressed, sad, guilty, flashbacks,...). There are some great resources for family and friends of people who harm - several are listed here: selfharmresources.wix.com/selfharmresources . I hope your daughter can start to recover soon, but know it may be a long journey for her. Hang in there, and try to be patient. If you need support, don't hesitate to reach out to us or a seek therapist for yourself. It's incredibly hard to see someone you love suffering so much.

In physical feeling I would say it varies from person to person how they tolerate the feeling of self-harming and what kind of self-harm it is. Our mind releases endorphins which are responsible for reducing our perception of pain and controlling emotion. Along with our minds learning things that bring us pleasure and when we do something that brings us that feeling, our mind remembers what brings us that good feeling, like when eating food, because it's enjoyable. So, our mind releases dopamine (a chemical released when you approach something rewarding) when that happens. The good feelings become addictive, and sadly for some, is how some find it through self-harming.

I've done it just to feel something... Like when i felt numb i'd cut. People always told me to hold ice cubes until the urge goes away... but honestly when i cut i wanna see blood. But anyways it's a way to relieve pain.

Self-harm is a way to equate the physical pain with the mental pain. When you are worried within, you try to take it outside by harming your body. It is a way in which your mind screams, 'I don't know what to do!'

Most people who self harm feel a sense of relief from it. Some people say that the physical pain can mask the emotional pain, but there's also a scientific explanation. A neurotransmitter in your brain called serotonin is released to make you feel happy. It's released when you get injured as a way for the body to get help after injury. Self-harm is the abuse of this mechanism. It gives you a temporary sense of happiness or relief.

Self harm is a way to cope with any kind of stress, sadness or anxiety. A person who self harms usually believes that they deserve what they are doing to themselves, they don't truly feel pain right when they do it, just numb or they have a sense of relief. However, can feel the physical pain the next day or within a few hours, Only making them disappointed in themselves and leads to more self harm.

Self harming can definitely seem illogical to someone who's never suffered from it. People self harm for a huge number of reasons, some people find it numbs their emotions, other do it as a form of self punishment. Self harm is addictive as it can release endorphins (the body's happy hormones) into the brain, similar to a runner's high.

Self harm occurs for many reasons. Some people try to convert their emotional pain to physical pain and this can mean that once the physical pain stops, they are slightly relieved. It can be stress or anger and so on. It is a coping mechanism, but not a good one and we do have many alternatives which may help. If you look on the self help guides there is a section for self harm. It can be very difficult for family members to witness this and I reckon especially for you as this is your daughter. I believe she may need your support but obviously you cannot be there 24/7. Sometimes being able to talk to someone may help also, so if you are close to your daughter and she can confide in you, talk to her about everything, or perhaps another family member. I hope this helps.

Self-harm can help a person experience a sense of relief from the pain they're undergoing at the time, it can also help a person calm down and feel better. Though in the long term, it creates more problems than it helps solve.

It feels extremely desperate, and most of the time in my experience it was only a last resort. It was a distraction from what was going on around me.