Please, Inform us...

To start off, I do not completely feel that self-injury is a bad thing. I'd rather hurt the outside of my body before I do something destructive to the inside of my body. I'd rather wear scars before poisoning the hell out of my liver..Now, that is my view; however, I do feel that it is a bad thing. Maybe that is because of the negativity I've earned because of this. The information on this page are my words...mainly what I feel mixed with a bunch of information I've picked up along the way. I don't like to get all text bookie with this because that is just something that I don't like. Books are great, but sometimes the best information comes from the ones who actually live it.

What is self-injury?

       To put this in simple terms, self-injury is harm inflicted on one's own body. How dictionary does that sound? There are several different ways that people harm themselves, cutting, burning, banging heads against walls, OD'ing on small amounts of medication and picking at the skin. Extreme forms would be amputating a limb or in some cases doing 'risky ' things such as walking out into a street daring a car to hit you.

Who self-injures?

       Well, according to stats long before, it was only said that white middle and upper class females were prone to this, as with eating disorders; however, with that stereotype everyone else was pretty much left out. This has been showing up in both males and females of all races and nationalities regardless of their social standing. I, for one, am a black female. So naturally with that stereotype I was counted out, even though the scars on my body should have been proof enough that I, too, engage in self-injurious acts..

Anyone more prone to self-injury?

       Yes. Self-injury is often associated with other illnesses such as, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Clinical Depression, Eating Disorders and Schizophrenia. People who are survivors of rape, sexual, physical, or verbal abuse are also very prone to self-injury.

Certain age?

       I've talked to people on the net who said that starting hurting themselves as early as 8. Literally, any age is possible. I find that more people started hurting themselves at 10-14, but the ages vary. I've talked to women who are well into their 40's+ who started hurting themselves very young and just continued to do so. So this is not just a 'teen angst' phase. It starts somewhere and lasts for who knows how long.

Are there any other names from self-injury?

       Yes. Up until I was admitted to a hospital I knew nothing of self-injury. I simply knew that I was cutting or hurting myself. Once I was in the hospital, my personal counselor called it self-mutilation. Mutilation is such a strong word. It's so graphic. Everytime he said it, I saw more than the cuts on my arms and legs, I saw brutality wounds from a bear. I saw everything except what was on my body. To dim down the fact that this is indeed harmful, I choose not to call it cutting or any of the other names that I am about to list. I simply hurt myself. It sounds less graphic that way...anyway. When I came home I searched the web (which was installed while I was in the hospital) for self-mutilation. The other terms, the ones that I can remember, are: Self-harm (self-harmer), Self-injury (self-injurer) (SI), Self-mutilation (self-mutilator), whichever form of harm you use, example-I cut, so it would be known as cutting (you are a cutter). If you burn, it would be known as burning (you are a burner). There was also Self-injurious behavior (SIB) which you would usually find in a therapists notes.

Ok, I get all of this, but why harm yourself? Just get over it, nothing is that bad!