In bringing closure to self-harming expression, the process may inadvertently place inordinate emphasis on the symptoms. It happens when valuing the disorder overrides the underlying cause and the restorative healing properties that are within everyone.
Can a person with a complex self-harming expression find a healing cure?
For every illness, there is a cure. Many prominent approaches are outside-in, while the healing functions of the psyche are always inside-out.
Outside-in approaches to healing have become commonplace for psychiatric and traditional therapies. These utilize diagnostic criteria based on the observable symptoms.
See for yourself. The clinical definition of self-harm is widely accessible online. From a clinical view, the consensus revolves around the conditions. It then forms into its diagnostic category. Even so, treatment remains unstandardized. Finding clarity about the ailing state is half the equation. Ultimately, restoring health is primary over the symptoms and its disorder.
An example of outside-in, an article published in 2014 by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has acquired the definition of “the deliberate, direct, self-inflicted destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent…” Within this definition, the cause and remedy are unfindable.
Initially, the DSM-V noted self-harm as an associated symptom of Bipolar Disorder (BPD). Since then, it has become the classification entity, NSSID. While the classification is pending further study, the exploration of viable treatments continues to appear less evident.
Hence, the condition of NSSI or NSSID attributed to a person offers information about the symptoms. It neglects a comprehensive scope of healing options.
In a sense, identifying the diagnosis can be a means to an ambiguous end. Psychiatric remedies for self-harm apply familiar avenues such as atypical antipsychotics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Remarkably, these approaches are more anecdotal than medically based.
In treating self-harm, many psychotherapies remain in a promising practice phase too. They rely on reusing evidence-based therapies, such as dialectical behavioral therapy, emotion regulation group therapy, or other cognitive-oriented therapies. However, controlled studies have shown moderate efficacy. Clinical Practitioners utilizing these approaches know that the outcomes are variable.
In all fairness, people with self-harming expressions do find a reduction of symptoms by the standards. There are additional options as well. For many preferring an alternative approach or the spiritual, there are equivalent possibilities.
When a person arrives at healing from the inside-out, it has profound results. From this approach, wisdom is at the helm.
As noted in the recent CPTSD Foundation article by Belinda Pyle, “Why Pets Are Better Than People,” she shares her healing and rewarding experiences with a four-leg companion. Animals are considered a viable therapy for recovery from a traumatic past or its related symptomologies.
Restoring health is an inside-out journey of self-discovery and awareness. Healing is mostly an experiential phenomenon. Its origin is the inner light that eclipses the shadows of the condition. By viewing life insightfully, the shadows naturally fade for an experience of well-being. It can happen gradually or shift profoundly.
To encapsulate, a clinical practitioner provides a method. It is not the method for everyone. In another article, “The Dreaded DSM and CPTSD,” Gemma Jones notes many inspiring therapeutic options as alternative possibilities. She cites a few, such as yoga, floating meditation, and the alternative practice of acupuncture.
Transforming self-harm into healthy self-care is reliant upon insightful understanding. By way of inner sight, a person can regain stability and well-being via the inherent potential from within the psyche.
Life is more about the path than its ruts and pits. Undoubtedly, the human psyche is not an invention of science. It is a feature of nature. Within the formless elements of the mind resides the key to unlock the cure to any condition.
The article by Shirley Davis, “Becoming More Resilient,” describes restorative qualities inherent within everyone. The spark of resilience is a profound inner ability in restoring well-being.
There is a clear and present solution for healing within the spirit of the psyche. From the depths of wisdom, the impossible can become a probability.
Many healing from self-harm, an aspect of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), experience the clouds of condition. It blotts out the light. It can be formidable and destabilizing. Of course, the features within the mind are formless. Within the psyche, any condition can reshape and eventually dissolve as wisdom overrides the debilitating state.
From the depths of the psyche, the cure rises to shift the shallows of condition. No one is born with self-harming. Every self-harm expression is acquired. In a sense, all disorders are a displacement upon a person. These can be “uninstalled” via insightful thinking within the conscious mind. The wisdom within restores completely.
While studies of people restoring health from self-harm or complex trauma are limited, it is evident that many on a healing pathway find profound well-being.
One possibility, restoring health from self-harm or trauma, is an inner phenomenon of reconnecting a conscious pathway deeper than the condition itself. Once healing begins, it unfolds into new levels of awareness from the inside out. Essentially, an inner bridge of wisdom supersedes the shallows of conditions.
While a clinical diagnosis may have a grasp on symptomatic appearances, insight reveals the cause and the potential for an inner cure to restore health. The world is full of conditions. Each person decides if life is a glass half empty or half full. Once symptoms dissolve for a deeper understanding, every experience can transform into a profound gift of living in greater well-being.
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The 3 Principles are evidence-based and used in counseling settings worldwide. Eric provides a variety of 1:1 guidance, such as trauma/poly-survivor support, addiction closure, and relationship counseling. Eric has experienced living beyond traumatic events as a poly-survivor. To share his journey, Eric has created a vlog series called One Spiritual Principle.
What also needs to be addressed, because most people don’t realize it, is that self-harm can come in MANY forms, not just what the media shows or is stereotyped like cutting. Skin picking, excessive hair tweezing, etc, these may not always leave scars but they are still self-harm.
Thank you, Harjo, for your insights about the subtleness of self-harm. Especially the ones less visible to identify, these can be as significant. You are correct about the media too. It promotes a sensationalized version that excludes many forms of self-harming expression.
Worth noting, many people find a healing path from self-harm towards self-care. CPTSD Foundation provides many resources and groups that support health. No person needs to live in suffering when supportive guidance is available!
Thank you again, Harjo, for sharing your valuable insights!