How long have you been self harming? Discuss why you started.
Well…we’re self harmers, not all of us are though. There are some members of the system for whom self harm is a coping mechanism…they cant help doing it, because it gives them relief from the pain they feel. for one insider, Lexi, it helps her to feel emotions, when she feels the blood on her skin, she says she knows she’s alive. We started to self harm when we were a teenager, it just went on from there. It got worse over the years, for a few years it was very out of control. Now not so much any more. Actually we’ve been self harm free for the most part now for over a year. That is a good thing in my opinion. Self harm is viewed so negatively that it is better if we can avoid doing it, as usually when we go to A and E they are awful to us and hurt us further by their cruel and often derogatory comments.