Self-injuring behavior is the tendency to inflict physical suffering on oneself through bodily injury or painful stimulation.
There are essentially two types of situations:
Loss of control over aggressive impulses that are directed outward as an outlet against one’s own body.
The intentional production of pleasure through inflicting injuries or painful stimulation.
In the first case, these are disorders of aggressive behavior that accidentally result in injuries.
The second case, on the other hand, corresponds to the actual concept of self-harm. It is a repeated behavior that can become habitual, carried out intentionally, even though at times it may become difficult for the person to control.
In a figurative sense, masochism can also be considered a form of self-harm, meaning the tendency to experience pleasure and seek it through situations involving coercion, humiliation, or discomfort. In this case, however, pleasure derives from a component of mental representation in addition to the overall set of bodily sensations.
There are also a number of situations in which a person unintentionally causes injuries to themselves, without injury being the purpose of the behavior. This may occur, for example, in someone who damages their skin by washing themselves compulsively, or in someone experiencing hallucinations who injures themselves because they are convinced that animals or surveillance devices are inside their body or beneath their skin.
Contrary to what is sometimes said about drug addiction or drug abuse, the pursuit of pleasure is a clear and understandable motive, over which control is lost in the case of addiction.
Similarly, repeatedly finding oneself in situations of suffering into which one has “got oneself” or remaining in them until reaching rock bottom does not mean that one is seeking suffering. Rather, in the pursuit of pleasure and satisfaction, a person may instead encounter disappointment or a trap from which it may subsequently be difficult to escape.
Pain is not in itself pleasure, but it can be chemically linked to pleasure.
The stimulation that produces pain also releases substances that produce pleasure, so the two sensations can eventually overlap, with the intensity of the pain becoming a measure of the pleasure that follows.
In the case of masochism, the role assumed in itself may be the realization of gratifying fantasies, but fear and pain can also represent the other side of a chemical reaction that produces stimulation and pleasure.
In other cases, manipulation of one’s own body produces dysfunctional physiological conditions that can nevertheless become associated with pleasure, particularly when the person simultaneously exposes themselves to certain stimuli.
This is the case, for example, of people who engage in erotic acts alone or with a partner while inducing asphyxia through ligatures, strangulation, or other means.
Such practices can sometimes accidentally result in the person’s death, at the climax of an erotic act in which the person attempts to evoke maximum pleasure by pushing asphyxia to its limit.
A particular condition in which causing injuries is not the purpose of the behavior, but rather a way of assuming the role of a sick person or eliciting compassion, is factitious disorder or pathological falsification. For this, see the relevant section.