[JakeyBoy]

Do you do it?
Did you ever try or thought about it?
Do you know people who do it?

What's your opinion about it and is it right or wrong?
Do you have to take someone serious when they do, do you need to feel sorry, or is the person actually looking for attention?

Maybe there is a real serious problem...

[Z]

Do you do it? - No.
Did you ever try or thought about it? - Nope.
Do you know people who do it? - Yes.

What's your opinion about it and is it right or wrong? - If you're doing it not to kill yourself but to do it for the sake of doing it then I'd say it's pretty wrong.
Do you have to take someone serious when they do, do you need to feel sorry, or is the person actually looking for attention? - I think it's a combination really, you have to know they mean business if they've plucked up the courage to cut themselves open, but you can't help but feel sorry for them that their life's so bad to them that they feel they have to do it, and yes, it's a cry for help.

[JakeyBoy]

I know a few people that have done it and it's pretty scary when you know that they are doing it and you can only do so much to help it. Like, you don't know if they are dead sometimes and every minute of every day that you don't hear from them you get this weird feeling in the pit of your stomach... it's bad

[InTheHood]

Originally posted by JakeyBoy
Do you do it?
Did you ever try or thought about it?
Do you know people who do it?

What's your opinion about it and is it right or wrong?
Do you have to take someone serious when they do, do you need to feel sorry, or is the person actually looking for attention?

Maybe there is a real serious problem...

Work with people who do as part of my job.

You have to take it serious, because it is a serious problem, whatever there reasons for doing it.

All you can do is be supportive, find out why they do it, and go through it with them.

Must never tell them off for doing it, but always try and talk them out of doing it.

[Siouxsie]

no never thought about it

[Sunny_01]

I dont think it is anyones place to judge people who self harm. I have worked with young people who have self harmed for a number of years and find that the very best you can do for them is offer support for them to talk through their feelings as well as information about harming safely if necessary! by that I mean first aid and what things they should keep close to hand in case they need to dress any wounds.

I dont ever try to talk someone out of self harming but I do offer them alternative distraction techniques that they can use as a way to reduce their harm over a period of time. Stopping is their decision.

[JakeyBoy]

I may have thought about it a few times... maybe even.. like, you know. But like, I'm not dead so it's all good

[sol]

One of my friends at my old school used to do it with a compass I think it was just for attention though.

[JakeyBoy]

If people do it in public or something, attention is what they want

[Psylocke]

I knew a girl who did it,but she was the BIGGEST attention seeker ever,loads of my mates had big problems in there lives at the time and she was like.ooohh look at me i cut myself.....

[SiMoN!]

Do you do it? no
Did you ever try or thought about it? no
Do you know people who do it? no

so i no nufing about it

[easypeasy]

i did it a few times when i was younger. its not always a cry for help it can just be a very low self-esteem thing.

[~Kizwiz~]

Its not always about attention seeking

[Ella]

This Topic is a bit personal, imsure no one wants to discuss reasons for why they self harm with complete strangers

But if you do then fair do's

[easypeasy]

yeah it is a bit personel, but its better to discuss it than sweeping things under the carpet.

[JakeyBoy]

This might sound super freaky but my friend's scars have magic powers...

[Lauren]

Originally posted by JakeyBoy
This might sound super freaky but my friend's scars have magic powers...

You're right... it did sound super freaky

And whoever says self harming is all about attention need to open their minds up a bit more

[Sunny_01]

Originally posted by Blanket&Crib

You're right... it did sound super freaky

And whoever says self harming is all about attention need to open their minds up a bit more

Couldnt agree more with you. Very few people would actually choose to physically hurt themselves as a way of getting attention when there are much easier ways to draw attention to yourself.

[lily.]

I have a friend who used to do it, and he still bears a LOT of scars.

It's not for attention. It's like every other mental health issue though.. it has stigma attached to it. Unfortunately a lot of people don't want to take the time to understand why people do it.

There's a series of ads being shown up here.. (not sure if they are in the whole UK). They are the "See Me" ones.. Ziola will have seen them I'm sure, and they are aimed at removing the stigma attached to self-harming and similar mental health issues.

However, in saying that, a lot of people who self-harm are teenagers, and it's easy for me to be all understanding and compassionate, but when you are young and your classmate is doing it, it's easy to pass judgement because you aren't old enough to really know what else to do. Did that sound patronising? If it did, I'm sorry.. I'm just thinking of how I used to be when I was younger... I was reasonably happy as a child and didn't really know how to handle serious issues til I got a lot older. However, I'm sure there are young people who are a lot more mature than I was.. I'm the first to admit it took me a while to mature. (I might even still be doing it!)..

Seriously though.. if someone is self-harming, there is help out there for them, and I would hope they would have the courage to get it so that they can get on with their lives and get over their issues.

[Lauren]

Originally posted by Stropz
There's a series of ads being shown up here.. (not sure if they are in the whole UK). They are the "See Me" ones.. Ziola will have seen them I'm sure, and they are aimed at removing the stigma attached to self-harming and similar mental health issues.

Yeah they're shown in the rest of the UK

Great post Stropz.

[lily.]

Thanx girl... I was hoping I didn't come across all superior when I mentioned the maturity issue..

[Lauren]

Nah it's true. Although a lot of young people do SI, the stigma attached to it is stronger at a younger age because teenagers find it hard to accept something like that, and don't care to explore the issues surrounding it.

[lily.]

Yeah, that's more or less what I was saying. I remember some serious stuff happening to people at my school and to be honest, I mostly remember not knowing what to do or how to handle it... and, I think with this it's the same... If you don't know what to do, then you wont do the right thing..

[Corkie]

alot of people do in my school there known as emos!

one peep did in my year and everyone said she was attention seeking but i dont think she is one of my friend just tells her to stop cos when it starts it hard to stop

i havent done it though

[lily.]

Originally posted by corkie
alot of people do in my school there known as emos!

one peep did in my year and everyone said she was attention seeking but i dont think she is one of my friend just tells her to stop cos when it starts it hard to stop

i havent done it though

I'm glad you haven't done it, but it's not so easy for that other person to just stop.. the problem is that you can't just treat the symptom, you have to treat the cause also.. whatever is underlying and making her do it has to be addressed before she can stop.

I'm also glad you know that she isn't attention seeking.. it makes a difference when people around her realise that it's not all about attention.