Emotional and mental damage, the damage to those that care about you (having experienced this, I can honestly say, that this hurt me more than any of my self-harm ever did) and damage to your future, not to mention the health risks.

Mine is/was real, or rather, it derives from things that are/were real - honestly, it doesn't matter what is or isn't real, because it always feels real at the time. We all have our stories and things that we use to justify it, but no matter how you spin it, self-harm is not the answer.

Do you have a therapist, counselor, or something? I hope so, because you need it, and I don't mean that in a horrible way, but a literal, straight-forward, honest way ... I regret that I went so many years without professional support; I consider it not too far from a miracle that I saw the light, without it.