Self biting

[jags99]

My 6 year old came home from school yesterday with marks up and down both arms.  When I asked what happened he said he was biting himself.  He could not tell me why and said there was nothing bothering him. How concerned should I be?  What should I be looking for and could this indicate something serious?  What should I do?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You should be concerned in this sense: a child does not bite himself if all is well. Likely he was angry/frustrated about something, and the biting was his way of acting out that anger/frustration. Ask his teacher what he/she has observed. It's not probable that he was doing this without having been observed. See what you learn. If indeed he is acting out angry feelings, you can help him learn some alternative way (preferably by talking) to handle the feelings. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First find out what occurred. Only then can you figure out how to proceed.

[MomInIowa]

Well, if he says nothing was bothering him it could be he was just trying to see what would happen if he bit his arm. If he has exhibited self harm behaviors in the past then I would be concerned.  I would simply talk to the teacher and watch him.  If he continues to show signs of self harm then I would take him to a Psychologist for an evaluation, the school counselor may be able to help. My guess is if he is not trying to hide it and this is isolated it is probably simply what he said it was, if he continues to come home or to bite his arm, or shows other signs of withdrawing socially or depression then I would have him seen.