addiction?
 

Re: addiction?
 

Having been a self harmer I feel that it is more than a bad habit, it's an addiction. You can't just decide one day to stop and that's that, it takes a lot of effort and hard work to quit, the same as an addiction to alcohol, cigarette's, or drugs

Re: addiction?
 

Re: addiction?
 

I feel that it's a bit of both.

On the grand scale, self harm is a terrible addiction. Once I do it once, I want to go back for more and more, just like an addiction to drugs. But sadly, the overdose to this addiction could cost me my life. My wrists itch, I feel restless, my body aches.

But, sometimes people who self harm subconsciously do these things without taking notice, or do things by habit. Like, whenever I am talked down to, I have a habit of snapping my rubber band until my wrist goes numb.

If that makes sense..

Re: addiction?
 

addiction is really a terrible habit that can lead to many worse things. when you're addicted to something you can't stop doing it. a couple friends of mine were pretty addicted to playing poker and lost a lot of money doing it. it then hurts your self esteem bigtime.

Re: addiction?
 

when someone does something because they have become dependent on the substance or action... when doing that thing becomes a compulsion or feels uncontrollable to the person who's doing it... when wanting and trying to stop does not equal stopping... then i'm going to say that whatever that thing is can safely be called an addiction. for some, self harm comes to fit under this category. arguably, any addiction could be called a bad habit... but it honestly depends on the person and their experience; i don't think that it's really a matter of opinion, but instead something that is dependent on each individual and their own experience with this.