The month of March brings many days dedicated to celebration or recognition. From Mardi Gras to St. Patrick’s Day, Employee Appreciation Day to International Women’s Day, there’s always something going on.

The entire month of March is dedicated to raising awareness about self-harm.

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, commonly referred to as self-harm, indicates a person is intentionally inflicting physical pain by one of a multitude of ways to distract or dissociate from intense mental and/or emotional pain.

NSSI is not an attempt at dying by suicide. It is an attempt to find a habitual release when other coping mechanisms seem ineffective. 

It is important to note that there are many forms of non-suicidal self-injury. The public often associates cutting as NSSI, however there are many other ways one exhibiting this behavior may inflict physical pain.

These forms include, but aren’t limited to, biting, scratching, pulling hair, cutting, burning, and repeatedly hitting parts of the body against hard surfaces.

Each of these behaviors inflict pain, but they are not attempts to die by suicide. 

Non-suicidal self-injury is not a cry for attention, but rather a cry for help. These actions are in place of words they do not feel they can express or even know to use to relay how they are feeling.

They need help managing emotional pain, reassurance that they can still feel something when they’re emotionally numb, coping with things that are overwhelming them, or having control when they feel powerless.

These are just some of the reasons someone might inflict injury on themselves. 

This self-injurious behavior provides only a temporary break from what is really going on for a person participating in these acts. That’s why it is habitual; to keep achieving that feeling they need to keep inflicting pain.

Overall, it causes more problems than it solves.

What happens when NSSI no longer supplies them with the outcome they so desperately seek? While NSSI is not an intentional attempt at dying by suicide, the thoughts and emotions driving these behaviors often overlap with those of someone intentionally attempting suicide through more lethal means. 

It is imperative that we educate ourselves on this issue so we can work to prevent it.

The Jason Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to the education and prevention of youth suicide.

They provide free training on suicide prevention and related topics, such as non-suicidal self-injury.

Their programs can be found at www.jasonfoundation.com  by clicking on the training tab at the top.

From there you can create a free account to track your progress as you begin your preventative education.

Everyone is able to help someone at risk of this behavior, are you willing? 

Mallory Wire is the associate division director of The Jason Foundation.