Is this conscious self harm or just self harm

I don't know if this even qualifies as self harm, for most of my life I chewed my nails to the point of losing my nails due to bacterial/fungal infections. I bit my tongue and bit my cheeks and fractured my teeth through tooth grinding. I have incredible pain. The pain seems to make me feel better somehow. I would'nt dare cut myself or I would get the hell knocked out of me. is this self harm? I would be grateful for any feedback.

I don't know about anyone else, but the self harm I participate in, I was doing long before I was conscious of it. I find scratching my arms and getting them red very calming, but it didn't hit me that I did it until one day I scraped myself hard enough to bleed. And then I realized what I was doing.

It depends. Self harm doesn't have to be cutting. It's any harm intentionally inflicted upon yourself to remove bad feelings, to punish yourself, to stop dissociating, etc. If this fits the criteria, then it's self harm, if not, it could just be a nervous tic.

It could be, especially if you are using it to manage pain. As mentioned above, it doesn't have to be cutting it can be almost anything that is intentional.

Do you always realize what you are doing or is it more subconscious?

you are right I did it without thinking at all. oh my i dont understand

mazing I have done this all my life my main emotion is fear, feels good to talk to reason

It could be a reaction to the emotions - I used to bite my nails due to anxiety and sometimes fear. I wouldn't always be conscious of it but would do it to the point they would bleed. It is slightly different to intentional self-injury but the reasons behind it and triggers are often very similar.

There are ways to start to overcome it if you are interested. It does take time and a lot of work since you first need to become more conscious of the reasons behind it and how to manage it, but it is possible to overcome

thanks mazing maybe its too late for me i feel unworthy of any care

want to hear what i do? i think up ways to lock up the property
that my landlord cannot defeat. put coke bottles in front of doors and windows. I home carry when nesessary. Am i paranoid

you know the effects of this bad thing, my brother in law has the senators ear, he understands the gravity of the illness. We are trying hard . thank you

Everyone deserves to get help and it is possible to overcome in time.

Hang in there . It can get easier.

I would only think it's SI if you're doing it with intent to harm. To me, that sounds like an anxious habit. Is there a possibility that you have anxiety?

I agree with Bronze. I have some of these habits, chewing the inside of my cheeks, I was once a nail biter, teeth clenching/grinding. A lot of these are caused by large amounts of stress that can lead to large amounts of anxiety. We begin to grow so used to these reactions that our minds don't let us know we are doing them. For example, it's like when people say you wont remember what you had for dinner three nights ago because your mind saw no importance for it. Soon it becomes mechanically habitual.

yes, i am under horrible stress and I do have anx/panic in addition to dep/ptsd. The exquisite pain somewhat relieves the mental anguish