If a child is doing this, if they are engaging in self-mutilation, it, this is something that I would get a professional opinion on. Get some professional help. Get an evaluation for the child. It can have a wide range of functions. For some, believe it or not, it's soothing. Sticking a pin in their arm or making a cut on their arm, the pain actually reduces obsessive thoughts or repetitive thoughts or anxious thoughts that they have. They experience a relief or release by doing this. That's the function for some kids. For others it may be attention getting. For others it may be a precursor of a more serious self-harming event where some of their obsessive thoughts are about hurting themselves. This is a way that gets those thoughts out of their head but it is also doing physical damage to themselves. That is why I would always get a professional opinion on this. Typically speaking, those kids are not suicidal. That's something for a parent to be relieved about but not something for a parent not to attend to by taking them to for professional evaluation.
