It's Self Harm Awareness Day today...?!
Question: so i wanted to make everyone more aware of it. i want people to understand. many people are very misguided on why people self harm, and then judge those that do it, so i'm here to explain
why people self harm:
one of the main reasons is to turn emotional pain into physical pain, which can be controlled. people often do it when they feel a lack of control over their life. it can also be so that the person feels something - some people feel completely numb, and need to feel pain or see blood to remind themselves that they are alive. also, the pain releases endorphins that make the person feel 'good', and it is these endorphins that become addictive. also, some do it as they want to see the blood - they feel the pain washes out of their body with the blood. others just need to see a lasting mark upon their skin. some do it as a cry for help when they feel that there is no other way to express their pain and how they truly feel. others do it for self-punishment -
Answers: so i wanted to make everyone more aware of it. i want people to understand. many people are very misguided on why people self harm, and then judge those that do it, so i'm here to explain
why people self harm:
one of the main reasons is to turn emotional pain into physical pain, which can be controlled. people often do it when they feel a lack of control over their life. it can also be so that the person feels something - some people feel completely numb, and need to feel pain or see blood to remind themselves that they are alive. also, the pain releases endorphins that make the person feel 'good', and it is these endorphins that become addictive. also, some do it as they want to see the blood - they feel the pain washes out of their body with the blood. others just need to see a lasting mark upon their skin. some do it as a cry for help when they feel that there is no other way to express their pain and how they truly feel. others do it for self-punishment -
Thank you for bringing awareness to this. Many people suffer in silence.
I have to stress though, if anyone who currently is reading this does self harm on a regular basis please get help. There is nothing to be ashamed of, but you may get an infection from a cut, or worse, accidentally hurt yourself more than you intended.
It works like a drug almost, what works today needs to be more intense to reach that same point tomorrow. You may also get through the depression and end up with an arm full of scars that you have to hide as you get older. It leaves you with a very painful memory of the past.
There is no shame in getting help if you are diabetic, have a broken arm, or have appendicitis you wouldn't think twice about treating it. Your symptoms are just as serious and life threatening at times.
When I hit adolecence, a switch went off in my brain. I got depressed, was put on paxil, and experienced the "black box" symptoms. I started self harming for years, got better (yes it is possible to feel like the person you were before you got depressed). The switch switched back and I was me again.
I work everyday to keep that switch from switching again. Its worth every minute though.
You can get better, you can come out the other side, it is not hopeless. As hard as it might seem now there is hope. Never give up fighting for a better tomorrow.
i'm glad u pointed this out because i completely agree with everything you said, people just dont understand what it is about at all. people used to judge me frequently for it, and that was only when they actually noticed my injuries. mostly they'd go unnoticed for weeks, which was the way i liked it. im sad to say i actually lost what i thought were close friends over this....who "had enough" of my need for "constant attention"...
im glad to tell u i came out a better person in the end :-)
I think some of what you say is correct. Clearly you have put some effort into considering the why. I personally don't agree with the endorphins suggestion which is often put forward by many as a reason why cutters cuts. For me, well I have been cutting so regularly I just cant see the link. Perhaps there was to begin with but I cant recall, but certainly it has no relevance for me now, that is for sure.
I use to say I cut to maintain balance. What that really means is I do it to stay in the present. However I think people fail to understand how interwoven cutting becomes with normal life. I keep mine hidden by restricting myself to the top of my legs.
Cutting works for me so I cant see a way to even want to stop. But I warn others off because of the way it owns blocks of your time every day, because when I return to myself there is the mess to clean up, and it does make a mess. Then of course there are all the marks, scabs, bleeding and scars..
I am concerned by the way cutting has been glamorized and adopted in an artificial sense as a Fad where the entire idea of the cuts seems to be showing them off and getting not so much attention but rather as getting peer recognition that says hey look at me, I am cool.
But Cutting is not cool rather it is a bad habit that once you get into is very difficult to get out off. So please for your own well being don't even pretend to cut or muck around at the edges of cutting because at some point the trap is sprung and then you get tied into cutting which now has control over you when you first thought you had control over it.
So I know all the right words, I live with my shame and guilt about cutting, but as I said it works for me so I cant even think of stopping. But that does not mean I don't want to discourage others from getting lost in cutting. During cutting I drift away from the real world and while I might have convinced myself to start with that I would restrain myself, reality is that until I come back to myself I have no real conscious control. Its like an artist in thrall of their painting, there is no incentive for me to stop.
So to any one playing around with the idea of Cutting, please don't treat it lightly. Just stay away from it if you can.
Be safe, be sage
I self harmed for 8 years before I got help so I can confirm it is definitely not attention seeking because no one ever found out. I eventually tried to kill myself because self harming alone was not helping anymore. Thankfully someone found me in time and I got the help I most desperately needed. I am still on medication and getting therapy but I have felt fine for almost a year now.
hey up santa you can kill two birds with one stone here get a mothers day card and save on the present introduce mammy to self harm........for those with a sense of humour bypass it's a joke
Yes, I'm so glad you asked this. My girlfriend went through a particularly rough patch awhile back. She was self-harming, but thankfully she has maneged to recover. Obviously she still suffers from time to time, but I'm so glad I can help her overcome this and we can move forward together.
I hope this day can bring hope to many and bring recovery to all those who need it.
with some people cutting is a medical condition thank you so much for informing me about today.http://psychcentral.com/ to help you back up your facts.
I'm a self harmer/injurer, and I've been thinking about this day for the last week. I totally agree with you and I love how you put out there. Truth be known it's actually a survival mode for most, totally opposite to a Suicide attempt.. we do this to stay alive, and those who don't believe this, also don't understand. It's a very serious issue, and needs to be approached very carefully.
Thanks for the insight. It is useful to know.
I'm glad you put this here. People need to realize that we (generalizing self-harmers into a group, no offense) are not freaks, we are people with feelings, and we cut because of our feelings. I have not cut for about 2 months, and it was hard for the first few weeks, but it is getting easier to ignore urges and stop myself from acting upon my feelings. Thanks for reminding me about today! =]]
I have been wearing my orange snap bracelet and ribbon. I do self harm and know that there should be a greater awareness of this issue. Of course, there are some who do it just to get attention, but I feel if they have to do that, they still need help. I self harm as a way of dealing with my emotions as the vast majority of self harmers do.
Thanks for bringing this issue to light again!!
definitely a section of mental health that needs more attention
yeah
i think it was really good you posted this
i've been suffering for a long time now....been diagnosed with a lot of different problems
i wish people could understand us =[
x
I thought it was mothers day dam wrong again