Self Injuury Awareness Day 2018 *SH Trigger*

Today is self injury awareness day and it’s something that is especially difficult to talk about so I thought I’d start the conversation here. I self harm. I’m not self harming at the moment but I know it’s possible, probable even that I will self harm in the future. It’s taken me a long time to accept but this symptom of my illness does not make me weak. Self injury is not: attention seeking; for pleasure; a trend; a failed suicide attempt. It’s a way of dealing with emotional pain - a coping mechanism, though not one I’d recommend .....

If you are self harming, know that you can talk to us at DWD and we will understand. If you are able, talk to your loved ones and tell them how they can help. And don’t be ashamed. If your loved one is self harming, don’t be negative or accuse them of attention seeking. Let them know you are there for them but don’t force them to talk. Just be yourself, this doesn’t change your relationship at all.

http://www.lifesigns.org.uk/siad

That's an EPIC post.
There are so many forms of self harm - it's not "just" cutting. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/self-harm/

This is another link that might help: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-.../#.WpfMcmhl_rc

This is a subject that I find really difficult to discuss. I’ve spoken to other people who have self harmed and the reason they gave for their actions never lined up with the way I felt. I thought I was the only person who felt the way I did but after reading the NHS link Suzi posted, I feel a kind of relief. That I’m not alone and my reasons and methods are recognised issues.

For me it’s self loathing that makes me feel like I deserve to be punished. That I should hurt physically as well as mentally. I will drink excessively, binge eat foods that I know are harmful to be due to other health conditions and I have several scars upon my wrist where I have cut myself. This is really hard for me to say but in the past week alone I have carried out all of these things. Monday night I cut myself badly. The clean up operation was a big one :( Today I have eaten a ton of junk and I’ve been drinking. If it wasn’t for the drink I probably wouldn’t have the guts to post this now. The thing I’m most ashamed of is the cutting. It’s something I’d not done in at least 6-7 months. Eating crap and having a few beers are “socially acceptable” cos everyone does it on occasion and it’s not really visible but explaining the scars after cutting is different. It’s like after you’ve done it and the clarity returns you can’t dismiss it cos the wounds and scars remain long after and it’s so much harder to hide the evidence and explain the how and why. I don’t know how to justify it and I hate that I am weak enough to allow myself to fall back into this pattern of behaviour.

You are very far from weak and I'm so glad that you've talked about it. I hope you've cleaned and dressed your injury and that you are able to recognise these as negative behaviours and serious indicators that you really are in need of more help than you are getting now...

You’re not weak and you should never be ashamed. If you’re weak then so am I ....

You are not weak, well done for posting that it sounded like it was hard x

I think its great that its getting a bit of attention. At times this is so real for me but i hardly speak about it or do anything about it. A lot of people have this and its good if it comes into view throught things like this.

I self harm too. It's not something I realise I'm doing as I disassociate when I get distressed or reach my limits. I will start scratching my arm and not stop until the pain starts. It's only then that I realise what I've done. It's not something I really talk about and I always try amd hide the wounds. I think raising awareness and addressing some of the wrong ideas out there can only help.