The "other forms of self harm" thread *replies could trigger*

[effervescence]

yup they grow back but it takes ages, longer than say eyebrows, so you get stupid looking bald patches for a while afterwards

[helpmydeath]

i like to twist into odd positions and sit there for a while to feel the pain. I also take things and bang them against my arm (oddly enough, it never bruises!)

[anastacia]

great thread

i started self harming at the age of 13, now many years later i still do it. in the beginning i stopt eating, but very soon people noticed it and looked at me during diner and lunch times. at the age of 17 i stopped eating again, but after a long conversation with a friend who suffered from eating disorder, i start eating again.
i very lucky to have some friends.

during summer times it it's hard and difficult, because you don't always want to wear long sleeves.
and the scares that the people see are those from scratching.
scratching don't always get taken serieus, but there scares kep following you longer than burning scares.

every form of self harm is serieus !!!

don't give up, togetter we will beat this dark period in life

[Rubylou84]

As well as the "norm" SI i have pulled my eyelashes and eyebrows out for years. Ive never thought of it with the same stigma as cutting or anything. I wonder if its something i should have mentioned to my dr when they asked what form of Si i used. It does have the same kinda probs as cutting i guess i have to draw my eyebrows on all the time and use loads of mascara and eyeliner to hide bold patches. I wish i could stop doing it. I do do it when im stressed and triggered but almost automatically. I dont realise half the time im doing it! Its only when im sat in front of the telly and my boyfriend slaps my hand and sez Stop it!! I would never dream of cutting in front of him! It would be intresting to hear if anyone has any distraction methods for hair pulling as i said it is more automatic for me than cutting.

[Diamonds.]

I bang my head off things (really really hurts) i suffer with bad headaches everyday. I bite myself and i punch myself. Never do any of this on my face, because no one can see that.

Rebecca

[GirlAfraid]

I used to starve myself as a form of self harm, although I don't do that anymore.

I bang my head on stuff sometimes, or bite myself. I often scratch or pinch my arms too. I quite often do that in public when I'm nervous...

[I-Feel-Infinite]

awesome thread!

i don't even know what i do.... most of it's unconscious to cause pain... guess what's available.... mainly scratching or hitting self with whatevers in my hand

but the conscious ones.... attempting to throw up food (don't even know WHY) hitting head etc

most odd

so very glad there's this thread!

[Raining_Butterfly]

Very nice thread, makes me feel like I belong here. Though I do cut and burn, I more often do the less commonly talked about ones.

I first started to Self-Injure without realizing. I was in a really stressful situation, and so my hand just started picking the skin off my lips. The tearing brought pain and a small amount of blood, but it took the stress away for the moment. From there, it just escalated. Now it will actually scar, and they're constantly chapped. I will at times pull them to the point when I wipe off the blood, my entire finger is just soaked in it. I also began pulling other parts of my skin, and I hate myself for it. Never start this, all it causes is an ugly mess.

Another thing I started doing was crushing my fingers in textbooks. I sit next to my friend in ELA, and she takes it as a joke. I'll put my finger in between the last page and the inside of the back cover, and ask her to close it as hard as she can. The feeling is almost like when you cut, the inside pain goes away. At times it'll even make me giddy. I hate it though, it makes me fill with shame.

Right, I also bang my head up hard against my locker. The feeling of hard metal, that pain, just makes the inside scars go away for a bit. And if it's hard enough, I'll go into a haze where nothing hurts. But I walk away feeling really bad, it just reminds me that I can't cope any other way. It makes me feel weak, mostly because I know I could eventually fracture my skull. It reminds me that I could kill myself just by doing it a bit too hard.

Pretty much, you could say I do everything on that list you provided and more. I make sure my scabs don't heal, and I always pick them. Now, on my left arm there are numerous places where the skin is softer and shows that they once bleed. It's pretty ugly, and I don't think they'll ever heal properly. :< I also hit myself numerous times a day, drop books on my feet, and sometimes don't eat just so I can feel hunger pains. I hate it, and it just adds another reason to hate myself.

Thank you for creating this topic, it's nice to know that just because these forms of SI aren't as heard of, they aren't any less important or serious. (The skull-bashing one proving this)

[effervescence]

Can I just take this opportunity to say OI AMANDA!!!!! didn't i tell you that people would embrace this thread and you did well to create it? Didn't i? oh yes, i believe i did! :)

and just to prove it, quotes from the last few posts:

great thread

so very glad there's this thread!

Very nice thread, makes me feel like I belong here
Thank you for creating this topic,

xxxx

[butterfly hearts]

I have no left eyelashes at the moment.
I do all of the things mentioned in the first post - or i have at some point in time! However, hair pulling and skin picking are not always forms of self harm, they can be symptoms of impulse controle problems, or compulsiveness. I know it's a fine like between these things though!

[Tuesday]

for me, it always makes me want to pull out my eyelashes when i look at them in a mirror, so i try to avoid looking too closely at myself in the mirror lol. other than that, i just have to distract myself and keep my hands busy doing something and away from my face so i don't pull out eyelashes or eyebrow hairs. once i start, it can be hard to stop.

[Raining_Butterfly]

butterfly_hearts: As mentioned, at first it was a simple impulse. Now, though, I do it more or less on purpose, also as stated.

You know, I think somebody may want to pin this. Once it gets booted to another page, I can eventually see carbon copies of this being made.

[effervescence]

^ good idea.

*calls to mods*
sticky please?

[butterfly hearts]

ditto to stickying the thread.

[-Rainbow-]

i cut and burn but i also pull my hair out. i search for thick strands and just pull them out
i didnt realise it was harm until my dr said is was a problem.. so i never went back. it leaves me with bald patches.
i also bite holes in to my skin
its a bad thing to do.
and i do feel bad coz of it but eh who doesnt.
also second the sticky idea :)

[Pictsie]

Glad someone started this, you hardly see any mention of "different" forms of harming, good to know we're not all alone

I'm a scratcher

also backing the sticky idea

[effervescence]

hi guys just letting you know i PM'd aimee about stickying so its being thoght about :)

hope everyone is ok. i'm trying different eye makeup combinations to try and make it look like ive got some eyelashes for when i go home next week but its not really working....

my counsellor says i should keep the hair i pull out in a box for a day just to let me see how much i am actually losing but i think thats just gross

[Rubylou84]

i dont think saveing the hairs would work for me i like to look at them for ages and i think it would make me want more! thats just me though!

Be careful with make up though, try and get a sensitive soft kohl liner and sharpen it everytime you use it so u get "new" kohl everytime, clean the pencil sharpener with an antibacterial wipe if u can too. Eyes with no lashes can get infected real easy so this will help a little. i have had infections that made me look like ive had black eyes! be careful with mascaras too if u do get an infection its best to buy all new make up

[Snow White.]

Hey Guys!

I think it's great that you're all realising you're not alone and that you have support from one and other, however, at the moment I am a bit hesitant to sticky this thread and I'll explain why.

It's good to know you're not alone - and you're certainly not because a lot of these behaviours are common among people who self harm. I value that you need a place where you can talk and express what is going on for you, however I'm not sure a single thread like this is the best way to do it?

I say this, because in the past I've noticed that people don't get the support they need. So far the thread has been fine but with 'other forms of self harm' it can have the chance to turn into something that is tipsharing by simply stating how you hurt yourself, instead of getting support or advice regarding why you're doing these things to yourself.

I was thinking it would be better to start individual threads instead of just about what you do to hurt yourself, but instead say you have a bad day and you feel like pulling hair / hitting things /etc and making an individual thread and getting support that way.

But - that's just my thoughts, cause I know it's hard to get support from one single thread like this, especially if you've had a particularly bad day and you need some help/encouragement. And I'd like to be able to help improve the amount of support you can all get for these various issues.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, too.
Thanks,
Aimee x

[effervescence]

well, i definitely think something has got to be stickied cos i haven't checked this thread for just 2 days and it's already gone onto the 2nd page, which, let's face it, people don't check.

individual threads may work if they each cover a small range of things eg. one thread for all types of hair pulling, one for scratching and biting.