strongly dislike/invalidate themselves are hypersensitive to rejection are chronically angry, usually at themselves tend to suppress their anger have high levels of aggressive feelings, which they disapprove of strongly and often suppress or direct inward are more impulsive and more lacking in impulse control tend to act in accordance with their mood of the moment tend not to plan for the future are depressed and suicidal/self-destructive suffer chronic anxiety tend toward irritability do not see themselves as skilled at coping do not have a flexible repertoire of coping skills do not think they have much control over how/whether they cope with life tend to be avoidant do not see themselves as empowered
People who self-injure tend not to be able to regulate their emotions well, and there seems to be a biologically-based impulsivity. They tend to be somewhat aggressive and their mood at the time of the injurious acts is likely to be a greatly intensified version of a longstanding underlying mood, according to Herpertz (1995). Similar findings appear in Simeon et al. (1992); they found that two major emotional states most commonly present in self-injurers at the time of injury -- anger and anxiety -- also appeared as longstanding personality traits. Linehan (1993a) found that most self-injurers exhibit mood-dependent behavior, acting in accordance with the demands of their current feeling state rather than considering long-term desires and goals.
In another study, Herpertz et al. (1995) found, in addition to the poor affect regulation, impulsivity, and aggression noted earlier, disordered affect, a great deal of suppressed anger, high levels of self-directed hostility, and a lack of planning among self-injurers:
We may surmise that self-mutilators usually disapprove of aggressive feelings and impulses. If they fail to suppress these, our findings indicate that they direct them inwardly. . . . This is in agreement with patients' reports, where they often regard their self-mutilative acts as ways of relieving intolerable tension resulting from interpersonal stressors. (p. 70).
And Dulit et al. (1994) found several common characteristics in self-injuring subjects with borderline personality disorder (as opposed to non-SI BPD subjects):
more likely to be in psychotherapy or on medications more likely to have additional diagnoses of depression or bulimia more acute and chronic suicidality more lifetime suicide attempts less sexual interest and activity
In a study of bulimics who self-injure (Favaro and Santonastaso, 1998), subjects whose SIB was partially or mostly impulsive had higher scores on measures of obsession-compulsion, somatization, depression, anxiety, and hostility.
