From the author: This article describes the reasons for the occurrence of such a phenomenon as self-harm (Russian analogue of the words self-injuring, self-harming), which is becoming increasingly widespread among teenagers.Self- injuring, also known as self-harming, is a general term that describes causing damage to one's body. This includes burning the body with hot objects (for example, cigarettes), and excessive piercings and tattoos, picking at healing wounds, pulling out hair, head banging, fractures, and, of course, cutting with sharp objects such as a knife, razor, toothpicks. Typically, those who self-injure act alone and try to hide their marks under long sleeves and long pants, even in hot weather. According to statistics, these are most often: teenage girls, people who suffered sexual or physical violence in childhood, those who grew up in families in which it was not customary to express anger and malice, who have problems expressing emotions. I especially want to focus on cutting myself because I see more and more teenagers with this problem in my practice. Self-harm can occur when a teenager is faced with distressing feelings that he is unable to cope with. Sometimes it is a rebellion against parents, a way of individualization and separation. Teenagers simply do not have enough coping skills to cope with stress. Studies have been conducted that have shown that cutting by teenagers is committed in a certain environment, when he (she) feels lonely or abandoned, when there is no one nearby who could support, share feelings and help cope with them. Before cutting, the level of cortisol and adrenaline is increased significantly, after which it decreases significantly. Thus, at the biological level, adolescents regulate themselves, that is, they cause a surge of opiates, which reduce the effect of adrenaline and cortisol. In this case, emotional numbness occurs, self-anesthesia, which allows you not to feel pain when cutting yourself. What benefits does self-harm give to a teenager? First of all, he feels liberation from negative feelings, pressure, anxiety and the ability to control and manage pain. Self-harm is a cry for help. In this way, the teenager draws attention to himself and his problem. It is also an attempt to get care in such a “crooked” way, and sometimes to cause a feeling of guilt in adults. Some teenagers who cut themselves hate themselves and feel guilty for strong feelings that were forbidden to them in childhood. Those who have experienced violence believe that they themselves deserved the abuse. Adolescents who self-harm can come from any social group and have different levels of education and culture. Fundamental here is the level of stress in which children live. One consolation is that self-injuring is a kind of vaccination against suicide. According to studies by Western colleagues, people who cut themselves do not commit suicide. I would like to tell you about some cases from my practice. L., 12 years old, the eldest daughter in a family with three children, lives in the village. Loving parents, but giving all their attention to two younger children, one of whom is an infant. The girl feels lonely, hates her family, herself, and classmates. The reason for the appeal was uncontrollable aggression at school. In the process of work, it turned out that in the family the girl feels unnecessary and invisible. After a few sessions, she showed me the cuts; my mother didn’t know about them. I asked what she felt when she made an incision and saw blood, the girl replied: “I feel that I am, I am alive.” A., 15 years old, the youngest son in the family, dad has an economic crisis, and mom is more busy with my eldest daughter. The reason for applying is laziness. The boy did not want to study or play sports, and spent days after school lying on the sofa. A few days later he told me that he was cutting himself with a knife, his parents didn’t know. On my question:.