I used to burn my arms when I was a teenager. It's simply from a lack of proper coping mechanisms, especially when your emotions just feel so out of your control. I didn't do it often and I only have one small scar from it now, so they weren't severe. I did it when I was really upset and so angry that I was close to destroying things in my room. I had a really bad anger problem when I was younger. Luckily, I've grown out of it. Whenever I calmed down, I would be so upset with myself because I had destroyed something of mine. Being a teenage goth and all, I was well aware of how people would cut themselves to relieve pain. So I decided to give it a try and yeah, it actually did work. It really did help calm me down and because of that, made me feel better. It was never about attention for me either, since I never told anyone I did this and no one ever found out because I hid the minor injuries. Although I do know some people definitely do it for attention, but even these people need help. I think most people are prone not to take it seriously because "they're just looking for attention". While this may be true, If someone is hurting themselves just for attention then something is wrong and they still deserve help. But yeah, I did it because it made me feel better in the moment. My anger could really get out of control and it was such a horrible feeling, and burning myself alleviated that. Sometimes even now, I'll still dig my fingernails into my skin when I get angry without even really thinking about it, but I'm not really prone to anger much anymore.
