Self-destructive people share these 15 traits

Do you know someone with a tendency towards self-destruction?

From the clinical psychology, individuals with a self-destructive personality share a series of characteristics in their behavior. They are behaviors that go against their interests, are counterproductive to their well-being and cause physical and psychological harm to themselves.

Who suffers from this type of self-destructive personality?

The personality traits of self-destructive people usually appear in adulthood, and can be the effect of a wide variety of contextual, psychological and biological factors.

These people tend to shy away from all the positive and pleasant experiences that life offers them. This leads them to generate chaotic situations and interpersonal relationships and in which there is usually suffering. In addition, they are usually closed and do not accept the help of their relatives.

Diagnosis (warning signs and symptoms)

Several diagnostic manuals point out the main characteristics shared by people who tend toward self-destructive behaviors and habits.

If the person has at least one of the five diagnostic criteriaWe can speak of a person with a tendency towards self-destruction.

• Tends to interact with people and thrive in contexts where disappointments are likely to occur and disappointments. You may even have a tendency to be mistreated by other people, even being able to choose to interact in healthier environments.
• Don't let other people help or advise you.
• If they make a major improvement in their life (for example a good job or any other positive achievement) they react with depression, feelings of guilt or self-injurious behavior.
• He provokes others until they get mad at him and then he feels humiliated and offended.
• Does not agree to engage in pleasant activities, or if he does, he does not like to admit that he is having a good time (even if he has the social skills enough).
• You fail to carry out the tasks and commitments necessary to achieve your academic or professional goalseven if you have the ability to do so. You can help other people to improve, but they are unable to apply the necessary knowledge and attitude to their own life.
• Does not accept that others take an interest in his well-being.
• Too prone to self-sacrifice to help to other people.
• Hold on and don't rebel against psychological abuse, physical or sexual that other people inflict on you.
• The behaviors described do not only take place when the individual is depressed or in particularly harsh circumstances.

Understanding the behavior of these people

It's hard to understand why self-destructive people don't let other people help them out of their situation. How do you explain that they have very undesirable habits that sooner or later will cause them problems?

In general, we all want our lives to improve. We seek to feel comfortable and loved, we are motivated to seek greater well-being and positive experiences for our life. However, self-destructive behavior breaks with this general trend, and this is something that worries mental health professionals.

The genesis: low self-esteem

Self-destructive behaviors are usually manifestations of various emotional conflicts and underlying disorders. Mainly, the low self-esteem it is the most cited cause, in addition to resentment towards oneself.

The community of mental health professionals tend to agree that this type of self-injurious behaviors can be adaptive mechanisms in situations and contexts of great cognitive and emotional demand. For example, him stress, the anxiety, work pressure and other factors could be the necessary (but not sufficient) basis for a person to react in a self-destructive way.

However, other professionals point out that people with this type of behavior could be prisoners of their comfort zone, because of their low self-esteem, stigmas of unworthiness or poor self-confidence.

Habits and typical behaviors in self-destructive people

Self-destructive behavior can take on different manifestations, some more severe, and others less worrisome.

In total, we can list up to 15 frequent behaviors and habits.

1. Negative thoughts

The negative thoughts Recurrent can be the foundation of self-destructive behavior. When these people focus on the bad that could happen, they become obsessed and these fatalities are much more likely to materialize in reality. Examples of these thoughts are: "I'm sure I'm going to fail", "This will not work out," and so on.

2. Inability to cope with the problem

This is a passive manifestation, but it is one of the keys to understanding a self-destructive person. Psychologically balanced people are capable of taking action when they are experiencing a negative situation. Instead, individuals with this problem do nothing to avoid pain, with which each time they feel more useless and immersed in a spiral of inaction.

3. Eating disorders

Eating too much can be a self-destructive behavior with terrible effects in the medium and long term. It can also be the opposite: eating too little, which is also associated with a poor self-image.

4. Constant problems with other people

They tend to have frequent conflicts with other people. Unsurprisingly, these conflicts end up turning against them. This can cause them to be rejected, isolated, and to suffer humiliation and other problems related to the absence of social relationships.

5. Little confidence in your abilities

These people are perceived as unintelligent and do not believe in their ability to achieve important things. This low perception of one's abilities can be the prelude to inactivity, and can bury any work or academic project.

6. Self-harm

Infringing oneself physical harm is a sign that the person has significant problems and is clearly self-destructive behavior. It is one of the most dangerous and its final and irreversible expression is the suicide.

7. Self-indulgence: "everything goes wrong"

Another characteristic feature is self-compassion. It provides them with a certain unconscious comfort because self-pitying thoughts help them to remain immobile, reveling in their misfortunes. This prevents them from taking control of their life and getting out of the negative spiral.

8. Drug addiction

Another classic feature is the substance abuse, such as alcohol or other drugs. It is a behavior that not only affects the physical and mental health of the affected person, but also breaks the relationship with their family and friends.

9. Isolation (deliberate)

Deliberately (though sometimes not fully conscious), self-destructive people withdraw from friends and peers. They do this with a series of annoying and antisocial behaviors that irritate those close to them, to the point that they are excluded from social groups.

10. They do not express their emotions

They tend to hide their feelings. This tendency to repress negative and even positive emotions can lead to different manifestations of mental and emotional problems, and also psychosomatic disorders.

11. They refuse to be helped

They are people who do not allow themselves to be helped by relativesNot by friends, not by mental health professionals.

12. They sacrifice exaggeratedly

Have you heard of the Wendy syndrome? It is a set of common symptoms among people who focus too much on meeting the needs of other individuals, neglecting their own well-being. It is self-destructive behavior because, under the label of altruistic behavior, they are capable of denying their own freedom and losing the path to happiness.

13. Uncontrolled spending

Slot machines, addiction to shopping or gambling can lead to uncontrolled expenses that indicate that a person does not have emotional or psychological balance. It is a fairly frequent self-destructive behavior.

14. Lack of physical and mental care

They may spend long periods of time abandoning themselves physically and mentally: they sleep little, they eat negligently, they do not practice physical activity, they hardly take a shower... these are very typical signs among people with a tendency to self-destruction. They also do not pay attention to certain psychological problems that they may be suffering from.

15. Jealous, possessive ...

They are unable to properly care for their romantic relationships. They present behaviors of jealousypossessiveness emotional blackmail, and even violence. Obviously, couples end up leaving them.

Concluding

Self-destructive people express different behaviors that, consciously or unconsciously, destroy their physical and emotional health. Your path to happiness and success is cut short by these kinds of attitudes.

Fortunately, these types of psychological conditions can be treated by mental health professionals., which can promote therapies and actions aimed at improving their quality of life and solving these types of internal conflicts.