Have you ever comitted self harm?

[gryphon]

I realize this is not an easy subject to discuss but I feel it needs to be discussed. I would like this to remain in the tea room so more people will see and join the conversation.

Have you ever comitted some form of self harm?

Back in high school I would cut myself. Its not an easy thing to deal with and I still have scars from it. But maybe talking will help others.

Lets talk.

[dealsniffer]

I just wanted to come here and say that I am not sure many would admit to it but I think it is very brave of you to talk about it. it is a very difficult thing to talk about I think because it is a difficult thing to understand. you mention you did it in highschool so I am hoping you are doing better and have found better ways to deal with stuff.

[Darth Penguin]

Define self-harm..

I starved myself due to anorexia down to under 80 lbs cos I saw myself as a fat blob while in reality I wasn't...

[gryphon]

Define self-harm..

I starved myself due to anorexia down to under 80 lbs cos I saw myself as a fat blob while in reality I wasn't...

That counts.

[vesper]

Darth Penguin has a good question? What is self harm? It's not always self inflicted violence.

After my girlfriend died, I denied myself any kind of pleasure for years, and to this day, I still do that to a certain extent.

I hope most folks who have ever considered or have harmed themselves, have overcome whatever had been haunting them.

[lekate]

I have scars on my arm, the worst one, or the most obvious one was from when I was 19. After that I never hurt myself since I lost so much blood and passed out the next day.

I also had eating problems, but not in the body image sense, I was just so depressed and anxious, and when I'm like that I can't eat, and so I ended up suppressing my hunger, I don't really feel 'hunger pains'.

[hollyquaiscer]

I want to say congrats to you OP, for being able to post a thread on such a topic. It's an extremely hard topic for most people to even fathom, let alone talk about. Most adults would rather turn away and pretend is isn't happening in todays world. Although I have never done any type of self harm, I have taken many, many courses on it and have had copious amount of experience dealing with teens with issues of self harming. I have worked with many teens that have had this problem, from cutting to eating disorders, from hurting others to make themselves hurt to using drugs and alcohol to deal with pain. It all boils down to the same thing....pain, pain we feel for ourselves, for others and either not truly knowing or understanding what is causing our pain, but believing that we must have done something to deserve it. I am so happy that you are not cutting anymore. A persons teen years can be very, very stressful and unfortunately, many teens do not have the tools to deal with the many issues that arise. I too, hope others join the conversation and become aware of this situation instead of choosing to ignore it.

[Natalka]

Kudos to you, gryphon, for opening such a dialogue - I am saddened that you went through what you did, and hope that you are finding other resolutions to any difficulties you might have had.

I haven't self-harmed, but similar to holly, I've been educated on it since I was a teacher and counsellor.

Some resources -

http://www.sioutreach.org/learn/general
http://www.mentalhealthcanada.com/Co...=e&category=61
http://www.cmha.bc.ca/get-informed/m...tion/self-harm

[lekate]

I have scars on my arm, the worst one, or the most obvious one was from when I was 19. After that I never hurt myself since I lost so much blood and passed out the next day.

I also had eating problems, but not in the body image sense, I was just so depressed and anxious, and when I'm like that I can't eat, and so I ended up suppressing my hunger, I don't really feel 'hunger pains'.

Yup, haven't eaten in over 10 hours and don't feel a thing. The funny thing is, I made food, and then didn't eat it because I was no longer hungry. I think this is why I tend to get take out a lot, less prep time on my half means less time for me to get disinterested in eating.

[i_forget]

Yep.

[DiamondLil]

Yep, bulimia as a teen, only stopped when I realized what it was doing to me (hair falling out, skin drying out, constant sore throat)... My sis was always naturally thin whereas Im more curvy, which when you are comparing yourself to someone naturally slender and small makes you think youre morbidly obese....

[natynat]

I agree, very brave of you to come out with this topic I'm glad that you no longer resort to self-harm. As a teenager, I had a very hard time.When I was 12, my mom's best friend commit suicide and it really hit my mom and I. That was just the beginning of my depression and self-loathing. That was also the first time that I was prescribed Zoloft and anxiety pills. I overdosed on them later. I drank, did drugs, took lots of over the counter pills to supress hunger, and cut. Like you, I'm only 24 now...so the memories are fresh.

It's been five years since I've hurt myself, and about 3 that I"m "clean" of amphetamines. I wanted to go into social work as a profession to help those who are going through the hell that I went through, but I realized that I am too sensitive to do it. It would break my heart. I'm in the teaching profession now...and it's hard not to see these girls and boys who harm (or worse, kill) themselves because they're bullied or because they have no self-esteem due to whatever cause.

There is a stigma attached to people who hurt themselves. A lot of people suggest that cutters only seek attention. I think that society needs to let go of this idea and open their eyes. It's not an epidemic...it's been around for years. All of these kids are crying out for attention, and all the doctors can do is prescribe them pills which are linked to an even higher suicide rate.

I think that it's all about finding balance in your life and people who care about you, but who accept your past as part of who you are. I have scars that prevent me from wearing certain types of clothes, and I hope that one day I find a way of removing these so that I can finally embrace my body and not be concerned about people asking me "what happened?". Yes, I want to let go of my past, but it's part of who I am.

[curt81]

I have some scars on my left arm from cutting myself back in 2000. I haven't done it since.

[cherrycheers]

This is a brave topic because everyone should open one dreadful memory to recall his self-harm behavior. however, anyway we have grown up and what we experienced before makes us more stronger.

I have tried to do this but i failed, i was a "coward" to cut my wrist. Later i have realized no one or nothing could make me hurt my body since i am from my parents. Now i am more light-hearted, optimistic to treat the terrible things and no one except my dearest parents and friends is important to me.

[vesper]

There is a stigma attached to people who hurt themselves.

This is a fact, good point! (BTW Glad that have overcome!!!)

I never was suicidal or anything. But my father did put me in care after I experienced a very traumatic event when I was 18. For whatever reason, lots of people viewed me differently because of it. I can pass (and have) a vigorous mental exam, yet the stigma remains for some people. Oh well!


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On another note, I think some folks who abuse drink, drugs in excess are harming themselves passively. And my heart goes out to them as well.