I don’t really understand why people do it. Not like “they’re doing it because they are depressed and feel bad”, I had depression myself but never had a call to injure myself. I hate pain, and doing something painful to myself while I’m already feeling bad doesn’t really sound appealing. So I don’t quite get what self-harm gives people so they keep doing it.
Like, is it a way to “ground” yourself and stop dissociating, or is it “just to feel anything at all”, or as a “punishment”, or something else?
Coping mechanics. It’s a hard and fast distraction technique. It’s grounding at its most base level. Feeling the skin rip stops some of the brains abilities to think.
Great weapon for keeping people alive.
Why not just Google the question
To be fair, Googling anything relating to suicide or self-harm can be pretty tough unless you add the right terms to your search. If your search seems desperate, Google will flood you with self-help resources and suicide hotlines. But if your search is a bit more clinical, it can give you some very informative results.