How to know whether an Injury is caused by him/herself or by someone else

Some people injure themselves for various reasons. Many of them cut themselves but biting, scratching and various other methods of injuring are also present. This could be due to many reasons.

·        Some psychiatric illnesses – Injuring (cutting) themselves could be due to a psychiatric problem which needs medical attention.

·        To blame someone else or take revenge – Some people injure themselves so they can blame it on someone else. This is done to take revenge.

·        To create an event that did not occur – This is done when they try to prove something that didn’t actually happened.

Even though some people injure themselves and pretend as someone else did, it is quiet easy to recognize a self-inflicted injury from the rest. Following characteristics of the wounds are helpful in recognizing self- inflicted injuries.

·        Site – the areas are self accessible areas. Therefore they are mostly found on the arms and less likely to be found on the back.

·        Size – The injuries are small in size.

·        Number – they are multiple in number.

·        The wound have a regular depth equal from the beginning to the end.

·        They are parallel to each other.

·        Injuries are most present on the non dominant side of the person. For example if the person is right handed, the injuries will be more on the right side of the body.

·        If the cause is a psychiatric illness there may be a history of abnormal behavior.