We tend to think of SI as involving physical damage, but there are so many ways in which people hurt themselves, and I think that they are all coming from the same place, no matter which form they take. There are eating disorders, substance abuse, putting oneself in a position so as to be an easy target for abuse (physical, emotional, and/or sexual), and many others. Depriving yourself of things that you need, such as social contact, could definitely fit in this group, depending on your intent and what it means to you.

I hurt myself emotionally. Sometimes it is by deciding not to go to some event that I really wanted to go to, such as a party or some kind of get-together. I think that deciding that going to graduation ceremonies was meaningless and not bothering with it was another example. Sometimes I give people a chance to stop me from sabotaging myself, but they usually don't get it - I told both my husband and my (former) T that I didn't see the point in participating in graduation, and was really hoping that they would argue with me. Oh well. I would have sabotaged my trip to Norway and also going back to school last year if my husband had not pushed me to do what I needed to do in order to have those experiences. One of the most painful things I ever did to myself (which I have done twice) was to sell almost all of my goats. I cried and cried when I did that. Both times I kept one or two goats - that was the furthest I could go with it. I think that isolating yourself is another way to sabotage or hurt yourself, at least sometimes, and that various kinds of sabotage are part of the same self-destructiveness that includes SI.

<font color=orange>"If a light beckons to you, follow it. If it leads you into the quagmire, you'll probably find your way out of it again; but if you don't follow it, you'll be plagued for the rest of your life by the thought that perhaps it was your star." Friedrich Hebbet</font color=orange>