Self-injury

The act of deliberately injuring oneself. Self-mutilation most often occurs in young adults, many of whom are also drug or alcohol abusers, and is 3 times more common in women. It may take the form of cutting the wrists or burning the forearms with cigarettes. In some, it is a means of dealing with stress, such as that caused by child abuse. More unusual forms of self-harm, such as mutilating the genitals, are usually due to psychosis. Self-destructive biting is a feature of Lesch–Nyhan syndrome, a rare metabolic disorder.