Why do you self harm/hit out?

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I am just curious as to know why autistic children/adults self harm or hit others or objects. For those of you who can answer please tell me, it would be interesting to know. Thank you.

This maybe just be my perception, but most people with autism do not self-harm. I can see there is a population of Aspies who do, but its not a sprawling problem.

It's not of autism itself, but probably the same kind of issues that "normal" self-harmers have. Self-esteem issues or such?

have you ever been so dead and depressed inside that the only way you can feel anything is to slash your arm?It's not an Autism thing its a depression thing. Its a way of feeling something when your numb to everything.Its a way of relieving the internal tension that comes from an emotional state like depression.

Disclaimer:I can only speak from my own experience.I haven't harmed myself in over three years and I never did it before that period of time 3 years ago

Hi thanks so much for your reply. I am so pleased that you are not self harming now.

i have never self harmed, but i was bullied a lot as a kid, and developed a strong urge to attack people or things that frighten/harass me

Because it's FUN!
I do it jokingly a lot, you gotta love the pain.

Self Harm
Because we tend to bottle up our pain and not show others.

Hitting Out
Because we find it hard to control strong emotions.

I know they are sort of contradictory, but they make sense if youve been through them.

Adolpha

Sometime I purposely bang my head or hit myself on the head when I'm really frustrated. I don't know why but it relieves pressure that's inside my head when I'm stresssed out. I wish I had another alternative to stress relief.

Hi my son glen hits his head he always has done, when he gets anxious, he's not able to tell me why he does it I guess it's a stress relief.

Depression is the reason why people may want to harm themselves. I'm ashamed to say that I had, at one point, I did cut myself. It was all out of depression however and is one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. Feeling so dead and not caring about anything at all because find a reason to. It's extremely painful to live with, but thank God I got out of it! I'm happy now.

As far as hitting out or showing aggression. I can most certainly relate too. I find when I'm under stress or feel pressured, I feel threatened and in need to defend myself. Though whatever or whoever is pressuring me may not actually intend on harming me. It's just any negetive energy someone may be giving off such as when yelling, talking sharply or insulting effects me and I try to find the quickest way to make it stop. So, lashing out would only seem to be the logical action to do. Lately there's been some family issues in the house and the constent arguing and bickering puts alot of stress on me and makes it more likely that I'll have anxiety attacks. Though, they may not know it, their hardened tones heavily troubles me even if its not directed at me. I also find that if a troubling thought comes into my mind it'll trigger a physical reaction and cause me to make a sudden gesture. Today I actually experienced a panicked reaction after thinking about unattentually offending someone that I really would never ever want to offend. And it cause me to breathe rapidly and flex my clawed up hands. I know that though I felt as though the thought actually happened, that it didn't REALLY happen. It was all just in my head. But I just couldn't stop feeling embarresed and panicked! So, I got on the computer to occupy myself and listen to calm music to collect myself. This kind of thing never really happened to me before-well not as intense anyways- and am suspecting that the argueing among family members put enough stress on me that I would become sensitive to over reaction on a thought. Ugh, I hope this blows over.
I know that reading or hearing about someone banging theire head, clawing at the air or grinding their teeth sounds scary to most people. Especially when they don't understand the feeling of so much pressure boxing in a person and just think that they'd belong in a mental hospital. No, it's just the extreme sensitivity to our senses and just finding releif from such heavy anxiety and stress. There's two thing that I do to try and eleminate such stress that I find helpful to myself.

1. breathing deeply outwards through your nose.

I was watching a horse program (I love horses) and the host of this particular show had his horse on a halter and was demonstrating how to handle the animals hooves. He took one fore-hoof and lifted it all the way off the ground. The horse felt this and arched her neck and blew out of her nose repeatedly. The handler took noticed and told the viewers that the horse was releiving stress from the uncomfortable position. Seeing the horse releiving her own stress and succeeding made me curious as to what effect such a procedure would have on me. I copied the mare and deeply blew out of my nose and felt my chest and shoulders ecome more relaxed. It sounds silly that a horse on tellevision taught me how to get rid of stress, but I find it helpful. Especially if I'm out in public, and can't show physically that I'm uncomfortable.

2. Thinking of a calming thought.

Now, I don't get settled by thinking of beaches, rain or any other theropetic thought that people always say that'll calm you. It doesn't for me. So, I think of a more personal comfort in a person (real or made up) and use him/her as a soothing existence. Either making the person do or say the right things to use as a blanket to cover any anxiety. I mean, if a thought made me panic, why wouldn't a thought calm me down? It's a strange method but being unable to reach out to anyone, I'll create a fake world just to find some sort of shelter. Just as I said, these are things that I do. I'm not saying it'll work for everyone. I may just sound insane to most of you.

well, that's disturbing...

I just hit my head sometimes when I'm really angry. I don't even mean to, it's just when I get so angry and I know that showing my angry outward towards people will make my situation worse, so it builds into an uncontrollable urge to hit my head.

I do the same thing. I hate it though cuz im tired of my parents worrying about me. Im kinda glad im not alone though. Makes me feel a bit less freakish.

I do sometimes smash my desk or the floor or something with my fists if I get really frustrated for whatever reason, but I've never self harmed and I've never actually broke anything. I make sure to not hit anything fragile. It's just a quick way to release the stress and I can't really stop it because it's so sudden. Doesn't really cause any harm, although it annoys my parents at times.

Oh hey, another nutcase like me... I remember some guy in high school finding out about mine and he was like "why you do that" "because it's fun?". He still thinks I'm crazy...

Honestly though, I don't see the problem with it, for me it's just something of a really extreme stim. Think about it, pain is a stimulus, perhaps one of the strongest, now Aspies have a thing for seeking certain stimuli, whatever they might be. It makes sense that some of us might look for stimulus through, well, pain, because it is such a strong one. It does not necessarily need to be a big problem, however, as we Aspies tend to be very aware of the risks and consequences. Obviously, it is not a most desireable form of self stimulating behaviour, but it is something that can be kept under control. I myself managed to some extend to keep the damage under control, that is not to say I don't have any problems with it, though.

Obviously I would advise anyone to stay away from this kind of behaviour, but if you're going to do this, there are a few things to remember: certain behaviours might result in significant tissue damage, especially the ones that have the risk of breaking bones. Banging your head against things is the single most dangerous form of self harm one can engage in, because you intervere so directly with your 'hardware' so to say. If you're going to cut, stay AWAY from any spots where you might sever tendons or cause significant nerve damage (I myself don't have the best feeling or motor control in my left arm), a lot of people think they have to worry about veins, but your real worry is going to be the nerves/tendons. Don't let anything infect, or you will regret it. Clean utensils, people, and keep some alcohol ready. Scarring will occur in any form of self harm that damages the skin (eg cutting or burning), and while you might think it's not a big deal, chances are, others will not agree with you. So basically, it is a bad idea to begin with, avoid it if you can, control the damage if you can't! So yea, this basically is a list of everything that can go wrong, and I hope everyone will use their best judgement before grabbing that knife.

I like the blood, but I never go cut really deep sometimes I dont want scars and Im just feeling depressed so i just hold my breath in cold water or bash my head on a wall.