In the US we have a program called S.A.F.E. Alternatives, when you go in, you sign a 30 day contract (or how ever long your stay will be) that you will not harm yourself in those 30 days, that instead you will notify a staff member you are having urges and then you talk about what is causing you to want to harm yourself. This program has had incredible success, so a problem I see with the idea of giving out blades, is self harmers are now going to think that it is being condoned, and that it is now ok, to harm yourself. Think about it, and I may be stepping over board on this, if so, please feel free to edit my post or notify me so I can edit it myself. But, in my opinion, there are 2 different kinds of self harmers, some of which DO mearly do it for attention, those who walk around school showing off their cuts, and then there are those who cut because they need to, because it makes them feel better, which of the 2 do you really think are going to be going to get the sterile blades? Those trying to hide it? Or those trying to get attention? In my opinion it is a no brainer, at least that is the way it is in the states. Let me say, I am in NO WAY saying anything bad about self harmers or saying they do it for attention, I was/am a self harmer for 9 years, I believe once a self harmer, you will always have the urges. I just wanted to reiterate, Im not saying anything bad about anyone on the site, but I was walking on thin ice in trying to explain my side. Im not sure, in my opinion, I really see no good in it, but like I said, its only my opinion.
Interesting article Harley, thanks for posting!
xx
Nicole
"Even if hard work and determination doesn't pay off immediatly, it will ALWAYS pay off EVENTUALLY"
i think it's a turn in a good direction in that instead of feeling patronized many might feel they have some kind of support which could ultimately lead many to put down the blade and pick up the phone. now,if all nhs is going to do is give a person a clean blade and send them on their way then that's stupid because what's the point? with new blade, and zero guidance, you can go deeper and further than if you just had an old kitchen knife per se.
people need to know that while they have access to clean blades and health tips, that they also have someone who will atleast try to listen and understand, otherwise your just feeding a void that will only grow.
Gather experience. . . Look at what you should not look at. A feeling of anxiety is the sure and certain evidence that you should do this -Clive Barker
I've never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It's probably because they have forgotten their own- Margeret Atwood
I think giving out blades to self harmers is a world of difference to giving out clean needles to heroin addicts. Its not like the NHS give heroin addicts heroin, they just give them the equipment to be safe while taking it.
If they gave out blades to self harmers they'd be new, they'd be clean but they'd be sharp hence people could do more damage to themselves. Personally I'd be disturbed by a nurse giving me blades, I'd see it as an invitation to cut myself.
What they should do is give self harmers the stuff to treat themselves after they have cut themselves, like badnages and antiseptic. It wouldnt prevernt it happening but it'd prevent the risk of infection which is far better. And really I must say the one thing I've learnt from cutting myself for years is how to treat a cut properly, so being given the proper tools to treat it properly would be a godsent. it's not like being given bandages would encourage it either...
Sarah.. you make a world of sense.
i agree with a lot of what you say.
even though ive contradicted what i said earlier.
but different perspectives and shiz.
I dont really like the idea. Maybe it works for some people, but it does seem a bit encouraging. I mean they say "well if the person is going to cut anyway". Yeah then instea of supporting them by helping to distract them, you give them a blade. "well you are going to do it anyway so I'm just not going to try to help you". Yeah great idea. And while you are at it...the people that are suicidal...go ahead and give them a tool for that as well. I agree with Harley that it may have potential to work...but it seems like it has too many bumps at the moment. They obviously havent thought this through.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. Having supervised self-injury, instead of being locked up in a room and on 24 hour watch for intent to self-injure, can be helpful as long as it's not given freely.
The nurses/doctors should make every effort to release the tension in a healthy way before letting self-injury take place. If done wrong, it will seem as though the people in charge of helping them have given up on them. If done right, it may help in recovery, showing the self-injurer that the nurses acknowledge that it is a coping mechanism and not attention-seeking.
It's close to the reward/punishment border. Do you punish a self-injurer by restraining, drugging, or 24 babysitting for feeling the urge to do what they've grown accustomed to? Or do you risk encouraging the injury by handing over a blade?
Personally, if I feel the need to cut, and nothing else works, it's better to just do it. The longer I try and put it off, the worse the injury ends up being. Not the greatest, but it's not a bad idea. At least they're trying to understand what it means to us.
Fair enough, but I just thought that back a while ago, with the opening of newer specific boards, the discussion of SH related stuff was in effect banned from GC.
I don't like the fact that the blades they're given might be sharper than their own tools at home, and therefore could do more damage.
But then again, if you're that determined you can do a lot fo damage with just about anything.
It's not the best plan but bneither is forcing peopel to stop.
This reminds me of when I was with my ex, she is also a SHer and I wouldn't ever plead with her to not do it because I understood how much it really can help (However short term) and I understood the need, and she would genuinely feel better after doing it. I'd never tell her to stop, I'd just tell her to be careful, and she told she appreciated that I did that.
Obviously that's not the same as giving her tools to do it, but I think forcing someone to stop is worse than giving them something that will reduce infection.
However, I do agree with Sarah, that instead of giving them blades they should be giving them first aid stuff. It would do a whole lot more good than blades ever will.
But that could cost a lot more money and we all know how strained the NHS already is, so.. I dunno.
My point is, giving them blades is better than trying to force people to stop, but giving them first aid stuff is better than giving them blades.
happywondering - giving out stuff to treat the cuts would be a great idea.
Discouraging self harm usually just makes someone try harder to hide it. If they offered support while also encoraging it safely, at least the person is more likely to feel understood, and that they have a choice.
I think the idea shows that self harm is being understood more by people.
Basically, what I am seeing is people promoting cutters to cut bad enough to put themselves in the hospital. These nurses will think it's a good idea until someone kills themself by accident while they are in the hospital.
To be honest, in one way it is a good way as some self harmers use dirty blades and don't keep their cuts clean. So by providing clean blades for them to use, its decreasing the chance of infection from the blade. It would just have to the looking after the cut that would need to be dealt with, and I know myself, I'm not one for looking after my cuts when I'm mean to.
But, in another way,its bad. Okay, it may not be encouraging self harm, but the self harmer may decide that because they have a clean blade they think it would be safe to cut deeper as there's less chance of an infection occurring. Well, that's what I would think if I was handed a clean sterile blade.
I guese, in a way, I feel like its promoting self harm. Just handing out blades to self harmers just might push it slightly and could end up with more harmers in hospital than they wish for. The nurses may think it will be helping the self harmer, but I think its just going to promote it slightly, convincing the self harmer that it's okay to self harm with the blades they are giving them.
I don't know if that makes any sense. And I do hope I didn't offend anyone.
Nic
xxx
This isn't a super idea, but they're trying. The more a self-injurer is told they "can't" cut, they're going to try harder to do it, therefor probably end up doing more damage than they originally would, and going through extreme lengths to hide it.
At least someone is trying to understand it more than before. As self-injurers, we used to complain that people didn't understand it as a coping method, and now when they're starting to do that, they've gone too far.
Here's an idea... It's easy to ridicule an idea, but not as easy to make a suggestion. It doesn't matter if you're for or against the idea, but if you don't like it, offer a different solution.
i think that this could work, so long as giving the blades is used as a part of a larger therapeutic scheme. I think that's what they're going for, but the article doesn't really stress that, as that would make the story much less sensationalistic.
blades shold only be given to a patient who is a proven long term self-harmer. only in that case can the "he/she will do it anyway" argument really hold up.
it needs to be part of a larger scheme. having clean blades may reduce infections, but counselling a patient and getting them recovered will reduce infections even more.
i would wonder what sort of blades the harmer will be getting. i'm under the impression that hospital-grade knives are made to be very sharp and very effective at cutting through skin. i would be concerned if the program inadvertantly served to "upgrade" self-harmers' equipment.
i would wonder what sort of blades the harmer will be getting. i'm under the impression that hospital-grade knives are made to be very sharp and very effective at cutting through skin. i would be concerned if the program inadvertantly served to "upgrade" self-harmers' equipment.
yes, thats verry bad to think about. Would defeat the purpose of the whole idea, really.
