Shedding the Stigma.

Shedding the stigma. It isn't just in modern times that self injury has been given a bad name. No. There has always been a certain stigma surrounding the act of cutting or burning ones self. Most see it as means of gaining attention, others as what they really are; coping methods.Sometimes you feel a pain so intense, that the only thing that helps is harming yourself. You control this new pain, you decide how deep the blade goes, you decide how hot the flame is. You decide how much pain you feel. You cope. Self Injury is the act of harming ones self without the intent of committing suicide. As mentioned it is a coping method for strong, distressing feelings that we can not express or control. The act of inflicting pain allows the individual to, temporarily, feel better. For some, it produces chemicals in their bodies which make them feel more at ease.  It can be done by cutting, burning, pulling ones hair, hitting, pinching etc - anything that inflicts pain on the body purposely.  The reasons for self injury very although extreme changes, stress and fear are often key factors. Some do it for years, some for only a short period of time; everyone is different. Many people believe that when a self-harmer covers their scars, or burn-marks with things like bracelets and long sleeves, that they are just drawing more attention to themselves. The truth is, a lot of self-harmers could never be ashamed of the scars they have from cutting or burning or any other method, but that still doesn’t mean they want people to see them. Scars become somewhat of a battle wound. Seeing them reminds the person of what they went through or who or what it was for. To them it is a keep sake. "My body is a journal in a way. It's like what sailors used to do, where every tattoo meant something, a specific time in your life when you make a mark on yourself, whether you do it yourself with a knife or with a professional tattoo artist." Johnny Depp. Commonly, people seen to be self harming are accused of attention seeking or being 'emo'. However, often this is not the case. Self-harm is serious business. it is not something to be taken lightly and made fun of, as so many people do. *Johanna has been self harming since she was eight years of age. Her first memory of self harming is prominent but, still remains personal and private to her. Why I started, I have no intention of discussing . I just remember this over whelming sense of pain and hatred for myself. Then, the relief from the injury. Fair play, it was a small cut, some scratching and wearing away at the skin, but it worked. As I got older, and things got tougher, I had to go deeper and try harder. The moment I drew blood; I knew that's what I needed. I in no way feel that my life is any tougher than anyone else's, I am just not a strong person. I freely admit that. I admit that I felt out of place and isolated, but so do many people. So just aren't able to cope as well as others. It would come and go. There was days when I had to cut myself every night at the same time. I would cut shapes and words into my flesh, draw pictures into my skin. Now that I am nearing 18, I haven't touched a blade in over nine months.  But the scars are still there, some fainter than others, and I look at them and remember why each was created. It reminds me that I came through it and I am still here ;My skin is my paper and the razor is my pen. My decision to give up came after a suicide attempt. I decided that I wanted to live and what I was doing was not only hurting me, but the people around me. In the end, giving up self injury was like giving up a drug. Self harm is not a decision to anyone. I didn't wake up in the morning and say 'Today I am going to hurt myself.' Even now I crave it and feel like I need it to survive. And yes, sometimes I give into it. But never to the point where I become entirely numb to the world; like I was back then. *Morgana has been self-harming since she was thirteen. The reason for her taking up this habit, caused by someone she thought she could trust. The first time I cut myself, I was in my father’s bathroom. I stayed with him every weekend, but this weekend was not like the others. My father and his wife had gone out with my step-sister, leaving me at the house with my sixteen-year-old step-brother. I will not go into detail as to what he did, but it left me feeling worthless, sick and vulnerable. After escaping his clutches, I locked myself in the bathroom, where I came across my father’s razors. I made that first cut, and I haven’t been able to stop since. Sometimes I can go several weeks without cutting, but the urge is always there, in the back of my mind, whispering my name. And I always come back running, because it is the only thing that takes my mind off what happened that day. There is so much more to be discovered about self injury. How to cope with it and help those suffering from it can be scary and daunting; but it can be helped. Friends, family, work mates and school teachers can all help us, going to a professional is not always needed.  The main aim of this short article is to help people understand that it is not attention seeking and it is not 'emo.' This stigma has left many unable to talk about it and many unwilling to speak out. We have enough bigotry in the world without the stigma of mental illness adding to it.Its not just the 'dark' and 'brooding' people who suffer. There are perfectly normal and social people who also suffer from one form or another of self injury. Being open minded and willing to help those who need it is the way forward, head first through this problem rather than taking a step back. *Much too obvious fake names.