Self harming occurs when someone deliberately hurts or injures themselves by cutting, hitting or burning oneself, overdosing and self-poisoning, taking illegal drugs and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. Self-harm is often a way of dealing with difficult feelings about a problem or situation.

Children who self-harm may feel more in control and relieved from the tension they feel. Self-harm may also be a way of punishing oneself for something that is shameful and to cope with feelings of guilt. Often times, this is the type of behavior that can occur over issues that most people are able to handle in a reasonable manner, while others react by inflicting harm to themselves because of rejection, neglect, low self worth, or abuse that has occurred.

Although this is a problem that the individual generally does not share with others, instead it is often kept quiet from friends and family. With self-harming issues on the rise, depression symptoms such as feelings of isolation, despair, and many others should be warning signs to look for. A refusal to wear shorts and short sleeve clothing items when they were worn regularly in the past, is certainly one warning sign you should watch for.