Why do women self-injure?

"For most women it is a way of surviving great emotional pain."

We are familiar with several coping mechanisms which never really cause us to bat a lash.  Over eating, under eating, smoking, drinking, and yes, even sex can all be coping mechanisms.  These are only a few of the coping mechanisms that we have come to "accept" as a society.  Yes, they are all harmful behaviours, but we understand them and accept them as normal behaviours, and treat them accordingly.  There are many treatment centers and groups for all of these.  Self injury is yet another coping mechanism.  Like all other coping mechanisms, it is harmful, but serves a very important function:  it helps to keep a person alive.  A woman may hurt herself to block out painful feelings.  many women say that it helps them to release overwhelming and unbearable tension which builds up in them from anger, grief, anxiety, even guilt and shame.  It puts her pain outside of her, making it easier to deal with.  Sometimes it is a cry for help; a way of showing to herself and others that she has suffered and is in pain.  Sometimes it is a way of feeling "real", a way to know she is alive.  Sometimes it is a matter of finally having something that she can control in her life.  "A woman may have suffered neglect or abuse, or may have always been criticized or silenced, rather than supported and allowed to express her feelings.  Some women lost their parents early, or came from chaotic or violent families.  For others, adult experiences of emotional or physical cruelty have led to their desperation."