Self Harm.

Hello everybody! Today's post is going to be slightly more serious than my other posts. Well maybe not "slightly" more serious. A lot more serious. I'm going to talk to you about self harm. This topic is something I take very seriously and I hate it when I see people joking around about it. "Are you gonna go home and slit your wrists now?". Seriously so uncalled for. Since it is something I feel so strongly about, I thought I could sit down and talk to you guys about it. I am going to say that I have struggled with a form of self harm, but I'm not going to share my story because I don't feel ready to, but if you want me to share it, tell me in the comments and I'll consider it. Also, before I start, I would like to say that I don't mean to offend anyone by what I say and I'm not some sort of self harm expert.

About Self Harm

Self harm comes in many different forms, but cutting it the one media focuses most on. I think it's like that because it's the most common one. Other ways of self harm include burning, hair pulling, and bruising yourself. Obviously there's so many other ways, but I'm not gonna sit here and write out a huge list. I'll put it this way: anything harmful you intentionally do to yourself is considered self harm. Some people harm themselves in less obvious ways like binge drinking, taking drugs recklessly, or starving themselves. Depression, anxiety, and being bullied are all things that can lead someone to self harm. Some people harm themselves as a way to show suicidal thoughts without killing themselves, as a way to feel in control, etc. 

If You Self  Harm...

If you self harm, there's a lot of things to think about before you do it. One of them being the possible permanent damage you can be doing to your body. It's more common than you may think to be left with scars for a long period of time. Do you really want to be in you 40's and still have to talk about self harm when people ask you about your scars. It's something that can stay with you forever even when you're done doing it. Another thing to think about is the possible health risks. You can get infections, cut too deep, etc. The most important thing you should think about is the fact that self harm doesn't solve the problem. Let's play a game of would you rather. Would you rather inflict pain on yourself, be left with scars, deal with a problem for far longer than you have to, and have to worry about covering up your self harm marks. Or would you rather deal with the problem that's making you self harm/want to self harm and learn from the experience? Take your pick. I would recommend option number two.

If you're feeling like you want to stop so bad but can't, there is a couple things I recommend for you to do. Put a rubber band around your wrist and snap it every time you want to self harm. Another thing you can do is wait 15 minutes every time you want to self harm. After waiting the 15 minutes, try to wait another 15 minutes and keep doing that until the urge to do it stops. The number one thing I want to recommend is to award yourself for everyday you go without self harming. Something you can do is draw something or write something on a piece of paper and hang up it up by your bed. If/when you self harm next, you have to take down all of the pieces of paper and start again. It'll make you think twice about self harming because you'll know that if you do it, you have to take down your pieces of paper which represents all the temptation you previously fought.

If you haven't told anyone about your self harm, do it. Don't be scared to. Even the feeling of knowing someone knows whats going one with you, can make you feel so much better. It'll give you someone to vent to and someone to help you with it. 

If You Know Someone Who Self Harms...

If you know someone who is self harming, there's some things you can do. The very first thing you should do is research self harm (hopefully this post is helping you). Before you try to help them, it would be in your best interest to understand what they're doing. The next thing you should do is tell them that you are here for them and am ready to talk about it whenever they feel comfortable talking about it. Don't force the conversation on them. When they end up talking to you about it, don't be judgmental and don't make them feel guilty by saying things like "think about how other people feel when they see your wrists". This conversation is about your friend/family member and not other people. Focus it on them. Also, you have to understand that the process of stopping self harm is long. You can't just sit down with someone, have one conversation about it, and think that they'll stop self harming from that one conversation. I'm sorry, but it's not going to happen. It's a long journey that you'll have to take with them.

So, that's all I wanted to say. Tomorrow I'll be back with my normal posts. See ya then!