Title: Depression and Risky Behavior
Headings: Depression and Risky Behavior
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Depression and Risky Behavior
Why self-destructive behavior may accompany depression and what to do about it.
Reasons for Self-Destructive Behavior

Content: Reasons for Self-Destructive Behavior
Depression can unearth unbearable feelings that many people try to escape. For example, a depressed man who grew up in a violent and neglectful home may turn to drinking to bury the feelings of rage and poor self-esteem. “For all of these high-risk behaviors, there’s a part of them that’s trying to numb themselves ... from really difficult and significant feelings of loss, anger, shame, or anxiety,” Gardenswartz says. Continued
But there are secondary reasons, too: Self-destructive behaviors can communicate one’s misery, experts say. “If they’re depressed and feel that nobody cares -- ‘Nobody loves me and I’m not important to anybody’ -- those behaviors can be a way of saying to themselves and others that ‘I deserve nothing. I don’t deserve to be healthy or happy or whole,’” says Mary Carole Curran, PhD, a psychologist in St. Louis. “ Or sometimes, they say, ‘Pay attention to me.’ It’s a cry for help.” Some turn to harmful coping methods because their families modeled such behavior, Gardenswartz says.