The idea of self-harm never quite made sense to me. I was told that people who self-harmed wanted to kill themselves. I was told that all they wanted was attention. I was told that they were crazy. But these were at odds with what I actually saw - perfectly sane people who wanted to live and hid their scars so nobody knew. I never truly understood until I did it myself.
It seemed like a perfectly natural thing at the time - I cut myself almost without thinking and felt a lot better that day. The next day, I cut twice, and so on. Almost in order to not follow the stereotypes that I had thought I payed no heed to, I told nobody what happened and I made sure to hide any scars. I didn't feel depression or craziness - rather, I just wanted to numb my feelings. However, after a while I began to realize exactly how bad cutting was as a coping mechanism.
Sure, I numbed my bad feelings. I also numbed my feelings of happiness, compassion, and enjoyment of life. Without these, I began to feel like a machine. As I began to sink into depression and contemplate if life was worth living, I decided to tell my friends about the problem. That was definitely the best decision I could have taken. They guided me through the quitting process and I have never felt better.
If you are someone who self-harms, do not be afraid to start a conversation with one of your friends about the issue. You will be surprised by the plethora of other healthy coping mechanisms which exist. If you know someone who you think may be self-harming, you may find this article to be helpful.
Sure, I numbed my bad feelings. I also numbed my feelings of happiness, compassion, and enjoyment of life. Without these, I began to feel like a machine. As I began to sink into depression and contemplate if life was worth living, I decided to tell my friends about the problem. That was definitely the best decision I could have taken. They guided me through the quitting process and I have never felt better.
If you are someone who self-harms, do not be afraid to start a conversation with one of your friends about the issue. You will be surprised by the plethora of other healthy coping mechanisms which exist. If you know someone who you think may be self-harming, you may find this article to be helpful.