The singer, 59, spoke candidly about her finger-biting on today's Loose Women, explaining it replaces the pain of losing her partner.
The group were discussing the prominence of self-harm in young girls when Linda, who is battling secondary breast cancer, opened up about her own struggle.
She said: "I self harm. I bite my hand or I rub my skin until it bleeds.
"I started once my husband died in 2007. The pain there took away the pain in here," she said, pointing to her heart.
"And it made me feel better. I still do it sometimes, but I don't even know I'm doing it."
She added that the judgement from other people is one of the worst things about it, continuing: "It's not a nice thing to do.
"People will say you're doing it for attention or whatever. It's pain, but its a different kind of pain. Heartache is pain you don't think you can survive."
Linda went on to reveal that while she still grieves for Brian, she is finally at peace with his death after attending therapy.
"It's my wedding anniversary today, we would have been married 37 years" she said, "but there was time I wouldn't have been able to say that without getting upset."
Linda married Brian in 1981, and they stayed together until he died after battle with skin cancer in 2007.
The musician, who is sister to regular Loose Women panellist Coleen, is now fighting the disease herself, but has revealed she is doing well since her March 2017 diagnosis.
She said last month: "The cancer is still in my hip and it hasn't spread. I'm no longer on the crutches that I was on, so it's all going really well."
Co-star Linda Robson also spoke about her experience with self-harm on the show, as her son Louis is currently battling depression.
The actress, 60, revealed her son was too anxious to leave the house at one point, or be without his mum and dad.
She explained she had a "tough love" approach to his illness, which spurred him on to attend social events, but that he's made the most progress after attending therapy.
She said: "Eventually we got him to see someone, and they took him away to a retreat for a few days.
"He's been doing amazing since then. It's about finding the right person to help."
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