Suicide:
Self-injury with the intent to commit suicide
does not qualify as self-mutilation. Overall, the reasons given
for suicide attempts differ greatly from the reasons for self-mutilation.
In a similar sense, self-mutilation is also used to expressing anger and frustration, at either the self or others or society. Self-mutilation is at once both a punishment inflicted on the self and silent cry of rage to the world.
Self-mutilation is used to help generating normal feelings, or feelings
the person perceives are normal, and to distracting oneself from the pain
and troubles they face.
The most common reasons for suicidal injury
are the intent to make others better off and the lack of desire to continue
living.
Self-mutilators generally perceive their self-inflicted harm as less lethal
than it actually is. They also believe that there is a far greater chance
of rescue for them. Unlike people who attempt suicide, self-mutilators
do not desire or anticipate death as a result of their injuries. There
is no intent or desire for death, thus the prospect of death still seems
like a far away impossibility.
There are many characteristics in common between
self-mutilators and those who attempt to commit suicides. However, self-mutilators
differ in that they exhibit the following characteristics at considerably
higher levels:
-Depression
-Hopelessness
-Aggression
-Anxiety
-Impulsivity
-History
of Childhood Abuse
