Oscar De La Huerte answered
If your boyfriend hits himself when he gets mad at you, then it's understandable that you feel concerned. This is a pretty clear sign that your boyfriend is having difficulty controlling his anger.
Whilst he might not be lashing out at you yet, the fact that he needs to vent his frustration in this aggressive way would suggest he is certainly a threat to himself, and possibly to you too.
Whilst he might not be lashing out at you yet, the fact that he needs to vent his frustration in this aggressive way would suggest he is certainly a threat to himself, and possibly to you too.
My boyfriend hits himself
It really sounds to me like your boyfriend needs help and support. Self-harm is a word that gets banded about quite a lot in the media these days, and it usually refers to angst-ridden teenagers taking a razor blade to their arms, but the behaviour that your boyfriend is exhibiting is definitely a form of self-harm.
He might not be showing any lasting effects from hitting himself (although bruising is fairly common), but the fact that he feels the need to resort to violence against himself is pretty worrying.
How to deal with your boyfriend
Ultimately, you'll need to accept that you are not a trained psychotherapist. Whilst it's obvious that you want what's best for your boyfriend, you may need to consider the fact he may need some professional help to deal with his anger issues.
Before you go booking him in with a counsellor though, I'd recommend trying out the following ideas first:
You may even want to buy him a punching bag or a stress ball so he can release all that physical energy without taking it out on himself.
It really sounds to me like your boyfriend needs help and support. Self-harm is a word that gets banded about quite a lot in the media these days, and it usually refers to angst-ridden teenagers taking a razor blade to their arms, but the behaviour that your boyfriend is exhibiting is definitely a form of self-harm.
He might not be showing any lasting effects from hitting himself (although bruising is fairly common), but the fact that he feels the need to resort to violence against himself is pretty worrying.
How to deal with your boyfriend
Ultimately, you'll need to accept that you are not a trained psychotherapist. Whilst it's obvious that you want what's best for your boyfriend, you may need to consider the fact he may need some professional help to deal with his anger issues.
Before you go booking him in with a counsellor though, I'd recommend trying out the following ideas first:
- Talking to him frankly and sensitively about the issue
- Finding other ways for him to vent his anger (sports like boxing or football are a good idea).
You may even want to buy him a punching bag or a stress ball so he can release all that physical energy without taking it out on himself.
