- Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose as a way of trying to manage distressing or overwhelming feelings and experiences. Someone who is self-harming might be dealing with intense thoughts and feelings, and hurting themselves may feel like the only way to cope. In other situations, they might feel numb and hurt themselves in order to feel something.
If your child is self-harming, or you're concerned they might be, it can be incredibly worrying and upsetting for you as their parent. The important thing to remember is that you and your child are not alone - lots of young people go through this and come out the other side with different ways of coping with their feelings.
