You want to learn to use illusions so that you can fight them? I suppose I'll let it fly...
Yeah, genjutsu messes with the mind, just as you said.
First of all, the only true way to break an illusion is to disrupt your chakra system. Now, there are a few ways to do this: first, when you talk about harming yourself, what you're doing is creating a spike in your Physical Energy by inflicting pain; while your body is in pain, your Physical Energy, which is used to make chakra, goes out of whack and your chakra system becomes unbalanced for a while. Second, you disrupt your Spiritual Energy by creating a surge of chakra throughout your body: this can either be a technique called "Kai", or any technique which is released through all of your Tenketsu. Third, you disturb your overall chakra by adding new chakra or energies to your chakra system: this is the tailed beast, or a friend, or Sage Mode... Any of those will work.
Most genjutsu are the same? How about I go through a list of techniques which all mess with your mind in different ways until you can't take it mentally, and just see how "the same" they all are! You're simple-minded to even think that way!
Hitting her student over the head with her flute, Tayuya took a deep breath to try and calm herself. When she spoke next, she still sounded angry, but she didn't look like she was about to kill the boy anymore.
Lousy kid, thinks he can tell me what to do, making me teach; stupid kid...
Now, before we begin properly, do you have any questions; anything you wanted to know about genjutsu before I began to process of helping you in being able to mold your chakra for casting illusions?