I used to self-harm when I was a teenager....sometimes when I was frustrated, but mostly because I felt I needed to punish myself for being "bad." Whenever I made a mistake or did something that everyone else thought of as "bad," I would bite my arms and hands, scratch/claw my arms, legs, and stomach, and beat my head against a hard suface, or beat it with my fists. My line of reasoning was that the more often I did this, the more "normal" I'd become. That, and I also thought that everyone else thought I was "bad," too, so if they knew I was doing it, they'd be more or less okay with it.
I once submitted a poem about my self-harm for my Health class, and remember being genuinely surprised when my Health teacher became alarmed and let my parents know and they (my teacher, the guidance counselor, and my parents) all wanted me to stop....like I said, I thought that if I thought I was bad, they thought so too.
I haven't done any of the self-harming behaviors that I've listed above for years now, but that doesn't mean I don't get urges to every now and then. I do still bite my nails and pick at my cuticles until they bleed....it's like a stress/anxiety reliever for me.
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I wish Sterling Holloway narrated my life.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" "Life isn't fair, Calvin." "I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in MY favor?" ~ from Calvin and Hobbes