i agree in many ways personally self harm is at one end of a spectrum suicide ideation at the other self harm is my mechanism for coping inflicting pain on myself as a means of distracting my attention away from another type of pain note the general idea of wanting to feel a certain type of pain over another type of pain contrast this with episodes of suicidal ideation when it seems that no coping mechanism can help the goal becomes to eliminate pain in all its forms by terminating my life the pain involved in the process of terminating my life becomes a consequence of the goal note the careful planning and selection of a suicide method driven by the general desire for a quick and painless death