Okay, lets have a look at Sarah's response!
Sometimes I play my clarinet until my arm hurts (I have
RSI) on purpose, but I don't do 'typical' types of
self injury any more. Is what I do actually self injury? How do I explain it to
my psychologist?
@SarahS Said
It is important to clarify why you do this. If your aim is to feel
physical pain for its own sake, it definitely fits the bill of self-
injury. If you play until your arm hurts because you are using
that pain like a yardstick to measure an ‘adequate’ practice
session length, then it might be more related to perfectionism. I
would suggest that you monitor your thoughts and feelings
before, during and after doing it, to get a clear understanding of
why you do it.
In terms of your psychologist, I think saying exactly what you’ve
said here would be fine: “I purposefully play my clarinet until my
arm hurts”. Also, if you can track your thoughts and feelings
before you talk to your psychologist, you will be able to help her
to understand even better about what is going on. It might help
to remember that these kinds of behaviours are not uncommon,
so don’t feel embarrassed about talking about it.
)
