Self-Harm: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|"All the little things that might have been annoying me suddenly seem so trivial because I'm concentrating on the pain. I'm not a person who can scream and shout so this is my only outlet. It's all done very logically."|'''[[Manic Street Preachers|Richey Edwards]]'''}}
[[Self
There is a lot of stigma surrounding self harm. In fiction, it is generally associated with the [[Goth]] and [[Emo Teen|emo]] subcultures, and often thought that self-injurers are "just doing it for attention". Cutting is by far the most represented form of SI in fiction, though other forms are seen.
In reality, however, there are many reasons for self harm, and it is not confined to (or encouraged by) any particular subcultures. It is usually a sign that someone is really hurting inside or suffering from mental illness; self-harm is associated with a variety of mental illnesses, including depression and [[Hollywood Personality Disorders|borderline personality disorder]] (BPD is, in fact, the only illness which for which the DSM lists self-harm as a criterion.) Contrary to the belief that they are seeking attention, many self-injurers will go to great lengths to [[Cut Himself Shaving|hide their injuries]].
Reasons for self-injury include, but are not limited to:
* Relief of emotional pain: many people who self-harm suffer from disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, or borderline personality disorder which cause intense emotional ups or downs. Self-harm can provide temporary relief from these emotions.
* To generate feelings: On the other end of the spectrum, some people who self-harm have feelings of numbness or dissociation, and the only way that they can feel anything at all is by hurting themselves.
* Control: Often in addition to one or both of the above, people may self-harm because the pain it generates is
* Self punishment: some people who self-harm actively loathe themselves and feel like they deserve to be hurt.
* To communicate to others: Although it's much less frequent than is usually portrayed, some people self-harm because they don't know how to effectively communicate to others. It doesn't make them manipulative or [[Attention Whore|attention-seeking]], it just means that they don't know of better ways to communicate (the manipulative or attention-seeking people can fail at finding safer ways too, but usually have more practice).
* Distraction: Closely related to both control and relief. Between the pain itself and paying attention to maintain it at certain level, one's ability to be bothered by something else at the same time is greatly reduced, which can be a good thing.
* Masochism: Some people like this. Or associate with something they like. It happens. Stranger things happen.
Note that while in most cases above the whole point is pain and actual bodily harm is coincidental. Which is why there are many forms of strenuous exercises, reflex massagers and moderate "corporal mortification" techniques that allow similar results without risk of infection or lasting marks (and if used right, can even help to improve health) - it's all [[Older Than Dirt]], varied and widespread, if less than common. Of course, people [[Freak-Out|overtaken by a shock or macabre mood]] as a rule don't possess the same patience and foresight as they would handling something less urgent so outside a planned training or physiotherapy course this may become a matter of what's known and available "right now".
It should be noted that not all people who self-harm are [[Driven to Suicide|suicidal]], though there is an increased risk of suicide in those who do. However in media, self-harm frequently signifies that a character is suicidal.▼
▲It should be noted that not all people who self-harm are [[Driven to Suicide|suicidal]], though there is an increased risk of suicide in those who do (this rather obviously shows one's self-preservation instinct is not very strong at the moment, but that's all). However in media, self-harm frequently signifies that a character is suicidal.
For self-harming tropers who would like to seek help, or for tropers hoping to find help for a loved one, please know [[Suicide Prevention|that you are not alone]].
See also [[Slap Yourself Awake]]. Compare [[An Arm and a Leg]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The main character of ''[[Life (manga)|Life]]'' by Keiko Suenobu begins cutting after her best friend turns on her. In the television adaptation, this is replaced by an [[Important Haircut]].
* Very early in ''[[One Piece]]'', during the Arlong arc, Arlongs ally, corrupt marine officer Nezumi, "confiscates" the ransom money that Nami spent the last 8 years collecting. Arlong tells her that he didn't break their deal and the villagers decide that she has fought enough, and goes to fight him, which would lead to their certain deaths. Distraught and hopeless, Nami grabs a knife and starts violently defacing the Arlong tattoo on her arm, not stopping until Luffy grabs her hand.
* A contractor in [[Darker
* In ''[[The World God Only Knows]]'', [[Our Demons Are Different|Lune]] is stabbing herself to relieve the frustration of being unable to harm humans.
* While she may or may not have tried to speed the process by [[Bungled Suicide|cutting her wrists]], Asuka of [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]] was implied to have taken a more indirect route by starving herself.
* In [[Inuyasha]], there is a scene where [[Big Bad|Naraku]], frustrated about the feelings of jealousy and unrequited love for Kikyo (which he blames on the vestiges of his humanity, but are later revealed to be very much his own), rips the skin of his back (where he has a scar that marks him as part-human) with a sword. With a [[Healing Factor]] like his, the resulting wound is like a shallow papercut to him, but the scene implies that he has been doing it ''over and over again'' and he has implied that he tried even more drastic methods... Since he already knew that it wouldn't work, one can assume that he does it entirely because of the afore mentioned feelings.
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== [[Fanfic]] ==
* Some of the most stereotypical portrayals of self-harm come from bad fanfiction, perhaps most notably ''[[My Immortal]]'', where self-injury (specifically cutting) is used as an indication of "goffikness", with none of the emotional nuances characteristic of real SI attached.
* ''[https://www.wattpad.com/story/163260272-astral-journey-it's-complicated Astral Journey: It's Complicated]'', narrator ([[Spice Girls|Emma]]) looks at Victoria's bandages, implying the latter was trying to cut herself and been admitted for this and an eating disorder. Later, Melanie grabs on to a pole that had been electrify.
== [[Film]] ==
* In ''28 Days'', there is a scene where Andrea, Gwen's roommate at rehab, is caught self-injuring by Gwen.
* In ''Asylum'', Ivy confesses to Madison that she is a self-injurer.
* ''Augusta Gone'' explicitly shows a scene of cutting while the character Augusta is at a camp for "problem" teens.
* ''[[Boys Don't Cry]]''
* In ''[[The Abyss]]'', self-harm is one of the signs of Lt. Coffey's descent into insanity.
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* The [[Evanescence]] song ''Tourniquet'' is very suggestive of a struggle with cutting, leading to accidental or intentional suicide necessitating the titular tourniquet. (The opening line: "I tried to kill the pain, but only brought more. I lay dying, and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal.")
* ''Self-Inflicted'' by [[Katy Perry]]
* Dead of [[Mayhem]] used to include
== [[Music Video]] ==
* ''Fuckin Perfect'' by [[
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Dialled up to about fourteen by Malfeas in ''[[Exalted]]'', who - being a [[Genius Loci]] packed with [[Malevolent Architecture]] - self-harms by slamming shells together as a manifestation of his cosmic bipolar disorder stemming from his defeat in the Primordial War, mixing reasons one and four above. The Abyssals are also portrayed this way occasionally, but usually they don't need to bother - if they're trying to be good people, their own Exaltations go out of their way to injure them, so self-harm is basically a waste of time.
{{quote|'''Holden Shearer''': Funny thing: To the extent that the setting has anyone who is an emo cutter, it is actually Malfeas. However, he'll never get called on it, because he sulks while listening to [[Megadeth]] and he does his cutting with a [[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw]]. }}
* In ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' followers of Loviatar (who unlike the Finnish original [[Odd Job Gods|specializes in]] pain and has dominatrix style priestesses) occasionally inflict pain on themselves. Usually they prefer to be ritually whipped by someone else, however.
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' has variations on the themes of corporal mortification and ritual scarification all over.
** The pain glove is a whole-body pain induction system that also prevents the subject from passing out; while originally a torture device, it is used by Imperial Fist Space Marines and their successors for meditation and spiritual cleansing purposes post-mission. The Marines adopted the practice from their Primarch, Rogal Dorn.
** ''[[Deathwatch (game)|Deathwatch]]'', of course, gives Imperial Fists the option to use the Pain Glove, which makes buying off Insanity and Corruption points with XP more effective.
** ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' and ''[[Rogue Trader]]'', keeping with the Imperial style, have the talent "Flagellant". The character must spend 20 minutes each day praying and self-inflicting 1 point of damage (and cannot treat it or allow others to do so), and it gives a bonus to Tests vs. mind control or Malignancy (manifestations of corruption, much like Disorders, come from accumulated insanity). It also allows them to activate [[Unstoppable Rage|Frenzy]] without using up actions. However, failure to practice this on any given day entails a minor penalty to all Tests from shame and guilt.
** There's also Scoriada, a whip specifically made for this purpose. It's a "weapon" with 0 damage;<ref>+Strength bonus -Toughness bonus, which usually are both 3; those with SB>TB ''will'' inflict more damage than they soak, but even then Scoriada allows a Toughness Test to cancel it</ref> as a more expensive (and somewhat useful) option, there are also Self-Flagellant Cherubim — cyber-constructs with basic servant programming plus a corporal mortification routine; the latter may involve Scoriada among the other variants, which in this case won't cause injuries, since Cherub drones are ''very'' weak.<ref>they look like [[Winged Humanoid|babies with wings]], and normally their most physically demanding jobs are to sing or carry light items while hovering along on anti-gravity</ref>
== [[Video Games]] ==
* {{spoiler|Chidori}} of ''
* Simon from ''[[Cry of Fear]]'' has several gashes on his left wrist, which he had apparently cut prior to the game's start. They are visible when he injects himself with morphine.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Faen of ''[[Drowtales]]'' is shown to have developed this behavior after the 15 year timeskip, [https://web.archive.org/web/20190614045315/http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1816 and digs her fingernails into her back until she bleeds], apparently due to anxiety. She's seen picking at a cut on her hand a page earlier, and Ariel's comments imply that this isn't the first time it's happened.
* ''[[Grey Is...
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had one formerly insane AI who invited others to do a "friendly parity check", pointing out that recently she was "cutting herself" (that is, had some heavy duty interior decoration).
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Meg of ''[[Family Guy]]'' is sometimes depicted as fragile and disturbed, and as a way to solve her problems she stated to her mom that she cuts herself. In another episode, when Connie (who always bullies Meg) asked Meg to help her become popular again after Chris became popular, Meg told her off and showed her the scars on her arm that she made from cutting herself as a result of Connie's bullying.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* [[Amy Winehouse]] admitted to being a cutter, though she spoke little about it publicly. The following exchange is from a 2007 [[Rolling Stone]] article:
* Kago Ai, after being fired from ''[[Hello! Project]]'' by Up-Front Agency for being photographed smoking having already being suspended for it a year earlier, suffered from severe depression and started cutting herself. She has even admitted to having suicidal thoughts.
* Richey Edwards of the [[Manic Street Preachers]] had a history of self-harm. The most notorious incident was when Edwards, getting frustrated trying to convince a reporter from NME that the band were for real, eventually pulled out a razor and [[Carved Mark|carved "4 REAL"]] into his arm. A photograph of his stitched up arm appeared on the cover of the magazine.
* self-injury.net maintains a [https://web.archive.org/web/20131101020818/http://self-injury.net/media/famous-self-injurers list] of celebrities who have admitted to hurting themselves.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Injury Tropes]]
[[Category:Self
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