It was written by Justin Walker, Sean Combs, Mario Winans, Jonathan Yip, Edward Logan, Jeremy Reeves, Micayle McKinney, Ray Romulos, Shannon "Slam" Lawrence, Rose Marie Tan, and James Smith.

[1] The song was produced by the Stereotypes, with additional production from Combs and Winans,[1] for the band's second studio album, Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008).

Released as the album's lead single on January 29, 2008, in the United States, the song reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it became the band's second top-10 hit.

The music video for "Damaged" was directed by Syndrome and premiered on March 11, 2008, on MTV's TRL, where it peaked at number 3 on its countdown.

The music video then transitions to a setting where the man is in his bedroom with a note on him saying "Tired of the damage – DK".