National Self Harm awareness Day The topic on this thread is a very sensitive one, it contains possible triggers and many of them. If you are sensitive to these things, please, I ask you to ignore this thread and don't read it. Thankyou, now on with the thread. I know I am 3 months late with this, but It is always better late than never, so here we are. March the 1st is the national self harm awareness day, people raise awareness by wearing orange wrist bands and writing "hope" on their wrists. This is not the same as suicide awareness month, which is September, and is much less well known, but it is equally important to recognise. I will be doing a FaQ type format on this thread with occasional pictures to keep you interested What is Self-harm In short, self injury (or self harm) is a coping mechanism - a deliberate, non suicidal act which inflicts pain on the body. Someone might harm themselves to deal with overwhelming emotions or situations, to feel in control or to stop feelings of numbness by invoking a (painful) sensation. Why do people Self-harm? People self-injure to deal with their emotional distress. There are various ways in which people cope when they are in distress or upset, and self-injury is one type of coping mechanism. Specific reasons behind an individual’s self-injury are so varied it would be impossible to list them all. But some of the most common reasons people give are bullying, pressure at work/school, abuse, relationship problems, financial worries, or a combination of smaller things, which build up into something big. Some people find it easier to deal with physical pain than emotional pain because it makes the feelings more real. Self-injury can become a natural response to the stresses of day to day life and can become more frequency and severe. It's important to note that self injury, while it provides temporary relief, doesn't deal with the underlying issues affecting that person. It's bad to self harm, so why do it? It isn’t ‘good’ or healthy to hurt yourself, in the same way that it is not healthy to drink too much alcohol, eat unhealthily or to drive dangerously (in fact these can be types of self-harm). However for people who self-injure it is one way they have to cope with their distress. Can't they just stop? It’s not that simple. People cannot stop self-injuring until they have another way to cope with their emotions. It can take a long time to find a more healthy coping mechanism. Because self-injury can become a habit (or even seen as an addiction) it can be a very difficult cycle to break, and usually people will need help and time (sometimes a very long time) to overcome it. Half way picture of a cute little German shepherd How do people self harm? People self-injure in many different ways. Cutting, burning, overdosing (without suicidal intent) and bruising are just some of the many forms of self-injury. It’s best not to give a lot of specific details as this might encourage people to try new and more harmful methods. While people can injure any part of their body, arms and legs are frequently cited as the most common places. This is perhaps because they are easy to access, and to cover up. So you're saying Its fine to self harm If I want to Not at all. Self-injury is not something to be ashamed of; after all it is a coping mechanism. But, it is not the most healthy way to cope. Even people who say their self-injury isn’t a problem will most likely say that there are times they wish they didn’t, for instance when people ask them about their scars. I think if most people are honest with themselves they would want a life free from self-injury. Isn't self harm just attention seeking? This is a common misconception. In fact most people who self-injure take great care to hide their self-injury, for instance by wearing clothes which cover their injuries. Remember of course that everyone does need attention, so in the minority of cases where people are attention seeking then it’s important to look at why they are wanting attention in this way – perhaps there is an underlying problem. Doesn’t self-injury only affect teenaged girls? No! Self-injury affects people of all ages, male and female, all sexualities, religions, cultures and races. The media tends to use stereotypes of teenaged girls, but this is really misleading. The message needs to be got across that self-injury can affect anyone. Isn’t self-injury just a phase someone will grow out of? Some people will only self-injure once, to experiment, in the same way that someone might try drugs once. Some people might self-injure a few times, but manage to get help before things spiral out of control. It is great if people can get help before their self-injury becomes a habit, and find more healthy coping mechanisms. But for some people self-injury can be a long-term problem, and can go on for years. It is certainly not something that people will ‘grow out of’, especially as we have to consider that many people don’t even start self-injuring until they are older! The UK has one of the highest rates of self-harm in Europe, at 400 per 100,000 population. That is a insanely high level. This thread is to raise awareness, if you have any questions, feel free to pm me, I'm almost always available.
And May was Mental Health Month. My workplace had fliers all over the place about various mental illnesses. I was irritated by it since they had a bunch about OCD, ADD, Depression and Self harm (I grabbed the Depression/Self Harm one), and some other disorders, but they totally disregarded Autism. Autism afflicts 1 in every 25 people in the world, so I just couldn't figure out why there would be nothing about it.
The world is a harsh place. It will beat you up and bring you dowm to your knees, but its the person choice wether he'll get back up or continue being beaten. For me self-harm is a worst thing you can do. You should respect yourself. Because it's the only thing that you will own permamently and will never be other's property. NO TO SELF-HARM dont mind me
I thought this was going to be a pretty bad post, because typically when people write things for an illness they kinda tend to dehumanize an individual as well as get the facts wrong but overall this was a good post. However your picture of the girl, could be seen as "triggering". Self injury and however anyone chooses to do it produces endorphins which is your body's way of fighting off pain and injuries. You CAN get addicted to that rush, just like people can get addicted to food or shop lifting. It makes you feel good and you need to do more to reproduce that feeling over time.
Huh. I didn't even notice the girl until you pointed her out. ? Then I had to go back and look. I guess it can be triggering for some people, but there are others that would see it as support and being helpful. As someone prone to SI, (I like the way it feels, not so much for coping anymore, and not for a very long while at this point), those sorts of images remind me that I don't want to go so far that I can't stop again, or worse. Realistically, you could say that even a well written awareness post could be triggering to people as well, simply because it makes people think about this sort of thing.
Such an insightful and commendable thread! My heart goes out to all who have/had succumbed to this. I hope they find a better way to channelise their emotions, rather than taking all the pent up hurt and anger on themselves. Self injury is not for seeking attention, people don't understand. Thank you for taking out time and posting this thread.
I can see what you mean... About how the picture could very easily be triggering, I meant it for effect, and that pretty much sums it up.,.