Sensation Seeking and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Understanding Adrenaline-Mediated Emotion Regulation Following Interpersonal Trauma

Self-harm is frequently misunderstood as attention-seeking behaviour or a symptom without a cause. However, emerging psychological research suggests it may be better understood as a biological response to unbearable emotional pain — one rooted in the same neurological mechanisms that drive human beings toward intensity and sensation. This paper argues that sensation seeking, when unmet through healthy outlets and compounded by interpersonal trauma and lack of validation, manifests as Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) — a biological emotion regulation response that in chronic cases contributes to the development of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Drawing on Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Theory, Linehan's Biosocial Model of BPD, and empirical research by Nock, Prinstein, Klonsky, and Eisenberger, this paper traces the neurological, psychological, and interpersonal pathway from sensation seeking to self-injury to clinical disorder. Keywords: sensation seeking, non-suicidal self-injury, interpersonal trauma, borderline personality disorder, emotion regulation, adrenaline, dopamine