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wonderbandalice — self-harm is not always obvious.
Published: 2012-02-28 01:45:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 87529; Favourites: 4345; Downloads: 3970
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March 1 is self-harm awareness day. Wear Orange!Links to information: [link]
I am always here for anyone who needs to talk. Send me a note if you want my msn/cell number/some other third thing.
**Sometimes it is obvious. And that's no less legitimate.
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Comments: 1759
I happy to see a deviation that is promoting self-harm awareness but not a typical one that uses the cutting on the arms. I think some people do have trouble saying that they self harm and it's easier to cut in areas that people won't question. When you try to hide it on your arms you have to wear long sleeves and people wonder when it starts getting warmer. But if you cut on your stomach or thighs you can get away with it.
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i use to cut myself all the time i have a huge cut on my neck base but ive been clean for nearly 3 years!
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I'm so happy you're doing better.
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so am i :'] i had to for my children! i didnt know that i was hurting them too they have made me stronger than ever
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This shouldn't happen. Every problem in life has a solution except death, and once you died, you don't really give a damn about it.
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Self harm and suicide attempts are very different things.
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Self-harm can (and tend to) end on suicide.
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It can, yes, but it's not the same thing.
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People that self-harm themselves is normally looking for a solution of a problem.
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For me, self-harm is a way of coping with my underlying problems (major depressive disorder, anxiety, ptsd), but resolving the underlying problems won't necessarily resolve the self harm. The urge to cut is extremely different from the urge to commit suicide, I have had both.
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Well... I tried to suicide punching my chest for stopping my heart. Didn't work.
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I'm glad it didn't work.
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If it worked, I won't write this (obviously).
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I hope you're getting some treatment.
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I'm not. I just live for pissing off people that hate me (LOL).
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a beautiful representation of how many people don't show their suffering on the outside. Very moving.
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This is an amazing depiction! I love that you also show the unscathed, pale arms next to the red "cuts".... and maybe it's just the lighting, but your hands look red as well.
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Personally, I never got the whole "cutting yourself". I understand poisoning, suicide, drug abuse, etc. But not cutting. It's not very pretty, first of all. And secondly, it'll repel people instead of getting their attention. If you do manage to get some attention, it probably won't be the attention you want.
Out of curiosity, I started cutting myself everyday in December and January. Not as interesting as I thought it would be, and it definitely didn't help anything.
Haters gonna hate 
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As someone who cuts, it looks very pretty to me when I'm dong it. I don't do it for attention, although I recognize that some people do and there's nothing wrong with that. It's an emotional release.
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Emotional release? That's what a journal is for (and I'm not talking about paper cuts). Also, we're girls. Don't we bleed enough every month?
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I've tried lots of alternatives such as journaling and most of them just don't work for me. The depression I get can be quite intense a lot of the time and physical harm releases some of it.
Actually I don't bleed every month, I take the same hormones constantly so I don't get any ups or downs, or blood.
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Well, I can understand that, I suppose. Why not just commit suicide and get it over with? I tell that to my best friend, but he says that's "too easy". I don't understand, and the lack of understanding is driving me mad. And I have a fear of psychologists and doctors, so I really don't want to go mad.
As an added note, I'm severely jealous of you. No blood? You're a god.
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You should never tell anyone to commit suicide.
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Well, if you're not gonna be any help while cutting yourself, then I don't see why not.
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because seeing a friend caring about you and not wanting to loose you can bring you back into life.
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yeah, sry, has been some time since my last english lesson
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i think cutting yourself isn't for attention. I think it's mostly to "feel pain" when you are really depressed. Or to punish yourself or feel like you're still alive or something. I don't know, I've never done it. But I think that why a lot of people do it
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Seems legit. Why not slam your head in a door frame while you're at it? It'll add even more unnecessary pain.
I dunno, the whole thing is just weird. No, I stand corrected. It's ridiculous. And I feel sorry for the people who do it still, like my best friend. I keep telling him to just do suicide and get it over with. But he says that would be "too easy". Yeah. Sure. And when has he never taken the easy way out of things?
I'm so confused about people nowadays.
Anywho, you deserve a hug for replying your opinions honestly 
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Alot of people who cut don't want to die though. Alot of them do it to relieve the emotional pain they feel, not as an act of suicide.
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Well that makes more sense. Thank you for clearing that up.
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I've never cut, though a sharp source of physical pain works to bring you back to the present if you get overwhelmed with your thoughts. It's something else to focus on. I imagine that's some of the reasoning.
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That's exactly what I mean. It's like you can form your own sense of control over a situation. I've done it myself and I cannot for a second say it's a good thing, or that it can't be named as unusual. Because it is, and if people haven't done it, then I can understand. But I dont think it's always about wanting to die or wanting to shout out for attention. I think everybody has different reasons and ways of coping with everything in life, and this is just one of those things.
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But thats the thing, i know a few people that cut them selfs and none of them say its painfull. One of my friend does it to get away from stress and another one does it since she gets high from it (something to do with chemicals that go to her brain when she does it e.t.c) and none of them have any will to kill them self. So i think it might just be diffrent from person to person :/
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I felt as though it was more a sense of relief, self abuse (feeling as though I deserved to be in pain.) and a sense of control too. If it's something you do, it can feel very invigorating at the time. And it can also be very calming if you do it to 'punish' yourself. Not that I'm promoting it! I'm clean now. But I just hope that maybe explains it a wee bit better
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this is a really moving picture.
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This is so true. As someone who used to self harm, I can say that. But let me share to all who self-harm the words that I always tell myself. From one's of my dearest friend's poems: "Smile when the world wrongs you; just know you're better than them."
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This really sparked my interest this morning and it reminded me of one of my friends back in sixth grade. I had asked her why she always wore long-sleeves or sweatshirts. I personally thought it was because she was either cold or had hairy arms. It turned out that in elementary school, she had been making little cuts from her wrist to elbow. I couldn't understand why she would have done that, because it seemed like her life was pretty darn perfect. Luckily I don't think she's cutting anymore, but that just goes to show that if you can keep that from one of your closet friends, you can keep that from anyone. Very thought-provoking photo.
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A lot of people ask me why I do when my life is so 'perfect', and it's frustrating. I'm really glad she's doing better.
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I'm glad too! It really had me worried for quite a while...
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Too true. It's a call for help, or at least it was in my case. You want help, you want someone to see the situation you're in and rescue you but, at the same time, you're embarrassed so you hide it in places where nobody can see.
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Really, this is painfully true. I have a roommate who recently opened up to me and said she struggled with cutting in high school, but you would never be able to tell by looking at her. Even if you saw the bare skin of her arms, you wouldn't be able to instantly find scars, because as she put it, "You learn how cut in a way that doesn't leave scars." It's also, in a word, "contagious," and having cutters or self-harm friends around you can lead to a life of self-harm (that's what happened to my roommate, along with some emotional issues). It's addictive.
I told her I would always be here to talk if she needed to distract herself from cutting, but she hasn't discussed the topic with me since. I'm worried about her, but I also have no idea what to do.
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I have been and was a self harmer for many years and I have had friends who self harmed. My advice about your friend is just offer your support and say you are there for them if they need to talk or vent. Whatever you do, DOT NOT JUDGE and DO NOT TELL THEM TO STOP! telling them to stop can create guilt which in turn can cause them to hurt themselves more in order to deal with the emotional stress. All you really can do is be there for them and wait it out. No one can make you stop doing it, like a drug addict or alcoholic, they have to realise they have a problem and want to fix it.
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Maybe mention the awareness day on March 1? A good way to start a conversation if you want to talk with her about it again.
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Okay, I may try that. Thanks! I've actually done most of what Wynter-Girl suggested, telling my roommate that she can vent to me if she needs someone to listen or confide in me if she needs support, but she's not a very talkative person. So I don't know if she's still struggling, or if she's completely gotten over it. It's hard when you live around people and care about people who have self-destructive addictions and struggles, and yet you know they have to decide to change and heal on their own. There's only so much you can do, you know?
I've had to come to grips with that reality, especially when it comes to my dad, an alcoholic with narcissistic personality disorder. Besides the alcoholism, the worst part of it is that he doesn't even understand how he hurt me and my mom because his condition makes him incapable of guilt or empathy. It's really scary, and people with NPD don't usually seek help or get better.
Beyond physical harm, people can hurt themselves in so many different ways: through substance abuse, psychological abuse, and or like me in high school, when I pointedly wore ugly, over-sized clothes because I hated the way my body looked (which didn't make sense, since I'm literally a stick) and loathed myself.
It really breaks my heart to watch people fall on the invisible knives they've set up for themselves, because cutting doesn't have to be involved to make someone scar and bleed.
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This is so amazing: it's an idea that is original (or at least, I've never seen anything like it before) and the photography is really well executed.
It's such a good way to raise awareness too <3
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