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Self-injury among teens is more common than thought, a new study suggests.

Some 46 percent of high school students surveyed said they had purposely injured themselves more than once in the past year. Among those who said they had injured themselves, more than half said they had cut or burned their skin or given themselves a tattoo or engaged in other acts the researchers labeled as serious. Others engaged in comparatively minor acts such as biting themselves or picking at areas of the body until they bled.

Many parents are unaware that teens engage in "cutting" and other forms of self-injury. Parents feel distressed and often helpless when they discover their teen has been practicing self-mutilation. Both males and females can be affected, but we see it more often in girls.

Then teen will cut herself on parts of her body she will then keep covered up. While cutting is the most common form of self-injury, burning, head banging and scratching are also common. Other forms include biting, skin-picking, hair-pulling, hitting the body with objects or hitting objects with the body.

This behavior is a way of dealing with emotional distress. It is almost as though creating physical pain eclipses the emotional pain the person is feeling. Often one who self-injures feels isolated and alone.

It is important not to be angry or judgmental towards a teen that is engaging in this behavior. That will only serve to increase their sense of shame and isolation. It may also lead to an increase in the behavior.

While our first instinct may be to try to get the individual to stop the behavior immediately, this may only increase his or her level of stress. What is needed is to help the person develop productive coping strategies, so there is no longer a need to resort to self-injury.

The person who self -injures is not psychotic, nor suicidal. Interestingly, self-injury is a maladaptive coping mechanism, a way to stay alive. People who inflict physical harm on themselves are often doing it in an attempt to maintain psychological integrity -- it's a way to keep from killing themselves. They release unbearable feelings and pressures through self-harm, and that eases their urge toward suicide.

If the person seems willing to talk about it, you can explore what is causing the emotional distress, and provide support for creating new outlets for painful emotions.

If communication is difficult or unwelcome, then a doctor or therapist should be involved.

Do you know a teen who is struggling with cutting or other self-harm behaviors?

What is self-harm behavior?

Self-injury, self-harm, self-inflicted violence or self-mutilation is an act of physically hurting yourself on purpose in an effort to cope with an overwhelming and distressing feeling or situation.

Self-harm is clearly a sign of a troubled person. A common misperception, however, is that teens who self-injure are cutting themselves in an active attempt to commit suicide. The opposite appears to be true: Most studies find that self-injury is often undertaken as a means of avoiding suicide. While some people who self-mutilate do attempt suicide, it is usually because of the emotional problems and pain that lie behind their desire to self-harm, not the cutting itself.

Self-injury in teens may appear to be attention-seeking. However, this behavior is more likely attention-needing. A person engaged in self-harm needs to be heard with empathy and care. Most adolescents who self-injure keep their behavior a secret for fear of others’ negative reactions.

• Done to oneself
• Performed by oneself
• Physically violent
• Not suicidal
• Intentional and purposeful

A Method of Coping. Most commonly, self-harming behavior is a coping mechanism to deal with emotional pain, stress, or trauma. Broad research indicates that there is a strong correlation between self-inflicted violence and history of child physical and sexual abuse.

Self-injury helps some people feel better by giving them a way to physically express and release their tension. It lessens a desire to commit suicide. It ends the feeling of numbness. Cutting can validate teen’s feelings, creating a ‘real’ pain that is easier to cope with than the hidden emotional pain.Self-inflicted violence is used as a way to temporarily feel better.

Self-punishment. Some teens believe that they deserve to be punished or believe that self-injury will prevent some punishment from an outside source. Adolescents who engage in self-inflicted violence are often overly critical of themselves. Excessive self-criticism leads to feelings of shame and blame, which lead in turn to self-punishment. Some teens who self-punish themselves do it due to history of abuse in their life. Although hurting themselves might make teens feel better at that moment, self-injury does not alter their past. It does not teach them or help them to deal with their past in a healthy way.

Here are the most common forms of teens hurting their bodies:

• Cutting
• Burning
• Excessive scratching
• Hair pulling
• Intentional bone breaking
• Hitting or Bruising
• Interference with wound healing

Self-injury is a behavior that over time becomes habitual, chronic and repetitive. Like any other bad habit, even though other people think the person should stop, most self-injurers have a hard time just saying “no” to their behavior – even when they realize it is unhealthy. Once adolescent is in the cycle of self-injury, the smallest things might trigger self-harm behaviors.