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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffSelf-injury can affect anyone, from pre-adolescents to older adults. But certain factors may increase the risk of self-injury, including:
- Age. Most people who engage in self-injury are adolescents. Self-injury often starts in the early teen years, when emotions are more volatile and children face increasing peer pressure, loneliness and conflicts with parents or other authority figures.
- Sex. Self-injury was thought to be more common in females than in males, but recent research shows that the rates are generally about the same.
- Family history. Some evidence suggests that self-injury is more common in people who have a family history of suicide, self-injury or self-destructive acts.
- Life issues. Some people who injure themselves were sexually, physically or emotionally abused as children or adults. They may also have experienced neglect in childhood. Social isolation and living alone may also increase the risk. Unstable living conditions, such as unemployment and divorce, also may be factors.
- Mental health issues. Among those at highest risk are people who experience many negative emotions and are highly self-critical. People who self-injure are more likely to be impulsive and to have poor problem-solving skills. Also, self-injury is commonly associated with certain mental illnesses, including borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders.
- Alcohol or substance misuse. People who engage in self-harm often do so while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs.
