Why is self-harm so addictive?

Because you always want something to lean on when your sad. Once you take that blade to your skin or that lighter to you skin it makes you feel better.

Self-harm starts out as a coping mechanism. Later on one becomes so used to it that it becomes a form of addiction. The brain releases endorphins (feel good hormones) when someone self harms, thus linking it to a positive behaviour.

I found that usually what leads to my self harm is my intense mood disorder Borderline personality disorder. This is one of my challenges and I have a hard time saying I am hurt. I may not understand peoples experiences but yes, the endorphins play a huge part in cutting myself in any situations in dealing with my intense emotions. I have found that I need DBT for my diagnosis of Borderline personality disorder. Because I lack in my understanding on why I react this way. I did hurt myself last night due to a distressing situation because of my shame and guilt. So I am asking for help through a specialist clinic for DBT. I will have some challenges to over come but I can do this because once the addiction with hurting myself in this form starts it's difficult to stop so I am getting help last time this happened was between 14-18 years and I had a hard time coping with the emotional problems in my life also with bullying and a history of complicated eating disorders. The only thing I can do is be true to my own personal experience and seek help through my GP, therapist and realistically understand what leads to my behavior. So do struggle and I am hurt. But I am happy I will get better.

Self harm is addictive because when you feel so alone and that you are hurting so much, you want to take the pain away. So, then every time you feel that way you do it again.

Because once one has harmed him/herself, their pain temporarily fades as if the cutting released the feeling underneath. And once the pain comes back, they feel as if this is the only way to deal with it.

People think of it as a way to cope with there problems and sometimes they do it for so long they can get into a pattern and start doing it more often and it becomes addictive just like smoking i used to self harm and to me it was when i felt numb and needed to feel something and when i did it i wanted to do it again,people who self harm need to seek help.

its addictive for many reasons one of them is because you want to feel something and because you enjoy the way it feel or looks

People self harm for various reasons, for example distraction or release of emotion. Its not the self harm that's addicting, it's what ever the reason you are doing it for. That's why we encourage you to find something to replace harm with, that gives you the same feeling, but something that is positive or contributes to your life!

It is a way to soft the pain you feel. When you do it you think about other things, and this can be a numbing feeling, but might end up becoming a habit even when you're no longer sad.

It seems to give people relief from emotional pain, the more you do it, the more your brain will tell you that you need it. Self-harm releases a chemical known as Endorphins and this is our 'feel good' hormone, our body releases it after things such as exercise, that is why after a workout you feel really good. Our body releases it also when we harm ourselves like cutting, the release of the chemical during that procedure can make it addictive too.