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I'm trying to make a distinction between harmful (or self-destructive) behavior and self-harm. As I understand it, "self-harm" is a term with a very specific me

• ComputerGuru 8y ago
  I guess I wasn't clear. I understand that, "self-harm" is a very specific psychological term that encompasses activities like cutting and attempted suicide. I meant that certain non-physical, indirectly harmful activities could be interpreted as falling under the category of self-harm while not meeting the classical definition. As I mentioned, if someone with the intention of hurting themselves or causing theirself pain (and not with that just being a side-effect/result) instigated a fight at work to get themselves fired and out of a job, you don't have to squint too hard to see it in that light. e.g. classic self-harm: someone feels like they don't deserve to be happy or need to feel some physical pain to wake up or what have you, and engages in cutting, directly bringing that harm to themselves. Someone feels like a fraud (without having engaged in any deception or the equivalent that would objectively result in others labeling them as such) and decides that they don't deserve the job they have with its pay and benefits, and so takes measures to make sure they are out of a job and a livelihood, and end up homeless and eating out of trash bins. Self-harm, no? Someone gets angry at a boss/colleague and can't restrain themselves from starting a physical altercation and gets fired/loses their livelihood.. not so much self-harm. So it's a question of perspective.