I don’t really understand why people do it. Not like “they’re doing it because they are depressed and feel bad”, I had depression myself but never had a call to injure myself. I hate pain, and doing something painful to myself while I’m already feeling bad doesn’t really sound appealing. So I don’t quite get what self-harm gives people so they keep doing it.
Like, is it a way to “ground” yourself and stop dissociating, or is it “just to feel anything at all”, or as a “punishment”, or something else?
A lot of reasons. Some include (but obviously are not limited to):
To distract from severe emotional pain
“Testing the waters” for suicide
Out of curiosity
To fit in with others
For attention
I myself have never done this, but I used to know people that did. Typically people who don’t do it for attention try to hide it and generally do a pretty good job at keeping it hidden. People that make it obvious generally are doing it for attention, or they are at such a desperate time in their life that they are screaming for help.
Mental issues are incredibly varied and widely misunderstood. Every human brain is different and thats why it is very difficult for even health experts to explain why they happen, or even to come up with an exhaustive, definitive list of reasons.
I’ll add a variant on 1 & 2, to distract yourself from the suicidal ideation. Sometimes when you really want to unalive yourself, a little self harm scratches the itch without most of the consequences.