Amy Winehouse - "I used to cut myself"
 

An article in the 14th May edition of Now magazine has been drawn to our attention. Some of you may think it worth discussing ...

Under "Celeb Health", Amy Winehouse tells how bouts of depression when she was young led her to self-harm.

Amy Winehouse was nine when she first tried to cut herself with a blade. "I had a morbid curiosity to see what it felt like", she says. "It's the worst thing I've ever done".

The singer admits she tried it when she felt miserable. "I didn't like the way I looked," she says. "I'd drink a bottle of champagne and start slapping myself in the face. I have a problem that comes out when I drink. I try to please everyone all the time and then it all builds up. I get frustrated."

Amy's depression increased when her grandmother died in May 2006. She went on a six-month bender and added a tattoo in her Gran's memory, finding that needles relieved her agony. "It's a way of suffering for the things that mean a lot to you", she says. "I like the pain."

Now 23, Amy says she doesn't self-harm any more, but still suffers from depression. She nearly went to rehab, but decided to walk straight out again and ended up writing her hit Rehab.

It's estimated that in the UK around one in ten young people self-harm, but the figure could actually be much higher because sufferers don't always seek help.

"Deliberate self-harm is a form of pain relief - a quick fix," says psychiatrist Dr John Morgan of the Leeds Mental Health Trust. "For some, the desire to cut themselves is so great that it becomes an addiction. There are many triggers, but common factors are low self-esteem, anxiety or depression."

Amy's experiences aren't uncommon. Angelina Jolie has admitted cutting herself from the age of 14. She has said: "Whenever I felt trapped, I'd cut myself. I have a lot of scars."

Research into finding ways to tackle deliberate self-harming continues, but in the meantime doctors have found that a mixture of psychotherapy and counselling can help. "People can recover and learn different ways to express their feelings other than by harming themselves," says Dr Morgan. "There are plenty of people who can help. Contact your GP. Remember, it's not a shameful secret, but a problem to be sorted out."

Tony.

PS. While I don't disagree with any of the above, I find it a little simplistic - but hopefully it will have helped some people nonetheless ...

I think if people read it who were previously ignorant about self-harm and find themselves learning something, it can only be a good thing. And similarly if a sufferer who thought they were alone reads it and decides to seek help, it's all good. I think for a magazine such as Now, the issue would have to be simplified and have something to do with celebrities by necessity! Still, the more the public is made aware of self-harm and what can cause people to do it, the better, in my opinion.

I have that magazine. I agree with what SugarKane said really about it helping people learn more about self harm. I think they could have said a bit more though. After i read it i thought "is that it". One page. But anyway one pages is something i guess.

i kinda dislike when celebs come out as self-injurers...it kinda makes self-injury seem cool or something...i mean kudo's to amy for finally owning up to it(she had been denying it previously but it was obvious). but i think article like this dont do justice to how serious a problem self-injury really is. the article doesnt say anything about how horrible SI can become or that eventually it could end in death...its just like.."yeah i did it to make me feel better but now i dont do it anymore cause its bad". i think in articles like this its just never seen as the problem it is and it's taken to lightly. ::steps down from soap box:: but like i said at least shes being real about it...

i disagree with onelonelytree in that i actually like to see a celeb say that they have truly self harmed before because to me it makes me feel like they are true people with whom i am able to relate. i like when celebs tell things from their past that perhaps i can relate to.

To me, I couldn't care less what Amy Winehouse does or did. It won't affect my life if she SI'd when she was younger or not. I always find it more interesting the way that mainstream media reports on issues involving SI'ing. They seem to generalise things and skirt around the real issues, promoting a radically stereotyped view of people who do SI, instead of actually explaining what (an admittedly complex issue) it is.

there had been pictures circulating of her arms and she said she got the scars from a rough night out but its was obvious that they were self-inflicted

i think its good that people are admiting to in because at least now its less hushed up and now that peopel know celebs do it, it might be though of as less weird and help more people who arenet affected understanmd a bit better.

It could also give SI the wrong type of publicity though.

don't get me wrong. i'm all about SI awareness and any coverage it gets is good...but i think its needs to be taken more seriously...

I think it is rather short and symplistic but the truth is people with little awareness or that are not interested tend not to read large articles. They are found in the heavy newspapers. I saw this in a celeb mag a few weeks ago myself and I dont really have any disagreements with it. I think it sounds plain and honest. I dont think it advertises it as a cool thing, its got a fairly large proportion on facts and information at the bottom.

x I really hope I dont offend anyone. :S

my mum does ot understand things like this but when mum reads things like this she starts to understand more. i think its good if people start to understand self harm.

I very much agree, however I have noticed int he last 5 years or so that the media has suddenly been able to report on SH, and those who have done it and who are in the spotlight have been able to 'come out' about it. And through those 5 years the 'comfort' with which the media has been able to communicate the subject to readers has (of course some publications and articles are much better than others) been able to tackle this a lot more easily than before.

The media coverage on such a subject is in fact a very accurate view into the 'acceptance' and 'understanding' of the readers of that article.

And so of course in Now magazine the average reader (and magazine writer too) is obviously a lot more understanding and accepting than they used to be - but we are not there yet.

But it is a complex subject, and this sort of 'X does it!' coverage does at least allow normal people who might have stigma to start with realise they can identify with that celeb because they do it, and that does aid social understanding.


We will have a new a improved Famous Self Harmers catagory when the main site is finished :)


Harley

Another bio to add with the rest ,these interviews with singers or actors revealing their secrets sometimes makes me feel that they want to bring attention to themselves but that is not what i think about self-harmers cause i think we all agree that we tend to make secretive as possible ,so when any one come out and say that he/she used to self-harm i don't find it as attention seeking cause it is hard and needs strength But those who boast with it and about how many scars they have and how deep they disgust me !

You have a valid point and I can see where you're coming from, but the overriding problem is that the view these sort of stories puts across is that Self Injuring is "a cry for help" and to me that's a load of crap! That's the biggest misconception ever and when people get soundbites from psychiatrists and therapists who say "it is a problem you need help with", that only serves to reinforce the stereotype. The first person I ever told that I Self Harmed said to me "I know why you do it. It's a cry for help!"

The average reader of Now magazine will come away with this view of SI'ing, I can assure you. That's my problem with all of this. I'm all for SI awareness, I have no problem with it, but not like this.