1. What did you think of S.I before you even started?
I had seen one or two people with scars and also knew people who did it. I didn't think it was attention seeking at all, i knew there must have been something going on for them and i guessed that this was their way of coping and that was fine with me, but if they ever asked me to help, i would put myself out there for them and try to help as much as I could.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I thought that they maybe were struggling and didn't know how to cope other than to hurt themselves. I felt sorry for them because they felt there was no other way to cope and I wished that I could help them in some way, but kept out of it until I was asked.
3.If you have seen S.I scars on people how did you react to them?
I didn't really think anything of it, I would catch myself wondering about it and why they felt they needed to do it, but now I can completely understand it. I still treated them as the same person. I wouldn't change my judgement of someone/friendship with someone just because they cut to help them get along when they're struggling, or just because they have some form of mental issue(s).
Allie, I'll never forget you..
Love You Always.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the things which you think you cannot do.
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
i hadn't 'heard' of SI. it wasn't something that got talked about in school or was on the news, though when i was younger i did know one person who did it.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
i felt sad. our friendship group were all 10 or 11 at the time, she was saying she was unhappy, hurt herself and wanted to die. i was scared for her but i didn't know how to help, she talked about having trouble with her family. i told a teacher and i don't remember it coming up after that. i wish i'd known how to help her pain.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people, how did you react to them?
only two people, a girl at therapy group and my sister. didn't 'react' to either. at group, it was for SH so it wasn't really anything to react to. inside i felt bad, as if both my SH and recovery were inadequate. and my sister, i didn't say anything. i try not to look at her arms. they're only red marks but they trigger me badly. at first i'd have to go off and cry before i could act normally, now i pretend to myself they're not there. maybe she'd like it if i talked to her, but i can't be that sister.
Last edited by tamo >bhūtā : 02-08-2008 at 12:06 PM.
Reason: sp
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I didn't really think about it before I started. I only started to think about it after I started doing it.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I just thought that something bad probably happen to them and that they used it whenever they were in deep distress. I was right (even before I started doing it), although I didn't know why they did it during times of deep distress. I didn't know that it calms one down until I started doing it.
I never, ever thought that they were attention-seeking. I've always been an open-minded person and I always try to understand people, regardless of how different they seem.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them?
I haven't - I'm the only person who's scars I've seen. I personally know other cutters but I've never asked to see their scars and they've never shown them to me.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I didn't even know about it, I was about seven, so I didn't really know what it was. Until I started it.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
As I said, didn't know about it, didn't know anybody who did it, until I started, etc.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them?
I wonder what caused them to do it, I understand the pain, and I'd wonder what triggered them to start.
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
It freaked me out that somebody could be so upset they would do that.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I felt sorry for them.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them?
I saw one girl and she was also really popular/cool/pretty and I'm ashamed to say thought 'well what the hell is so wrong with her life?'
'Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.'
['There is only one thing we say to death. Not today'.']
'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’ – Oscar Wilde
‘It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.’ Sydney Carter
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I had always saw it as a mechanism to escape emotional pain. I swore to myself I would never start SI'ing because I never thought it actually worked.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I only knew one person who did it, and she used it as a way to get attention, so I only saw it as a way to get attention.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them?
I would always ask them why they did it, and to promise to never do it again.
Never regret.
If it's good, it's wonderful.
If it's bad, it's experience.
I first learned about it when I was like 11 or 12 maybe even 10. At the time I was really into psychology and trying to figure out why people did the things they did even if they seemed so illogical, and this one definitely seemed pretty illogical.
The kind of sick thing is it was that curiosity of why someone would do it, and if it works, that lead me to try it myself when I got a bit older.
At that time it wasn't seen by the general public (not the ones I was surrounded by anyway) as an attention-seeking action. So, I figured it was just the way unhealthy people dealt with sadness, especially when they came from families that saw exposures of emotion like crying as weak.
The only SI scar I've seen was a self attempt at scarification. It was relatively recent (a year or so ago) and I was just like "of all marks to put on your body, a heartagram? Really? But ... HIM isn't that good ):" Lucky for her I'm pretty sure it healed and went away. I know now that she used to hurt herself for more serious reasons, but we've never talked about it...
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I didn't know about SH. I just did it and later found out what it was i was doing.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
Doesn't really apply because like i said, i didn't know it even existed.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them? This is really bad but i kind of dis-like them. There was a girl last year at my college who SH but was really open about. She was clearly attention seeking, which i know there is probably some underlining reason for it but i couldn't help but h8 her. She had everyone, all the tutors and class mates worrying about her and offering help whilst i was sat there trying my hardest to cover up. It was like, in my sick twisted mind, i was thinking that her marks where no more than cat scratches and mine where so much worse. Why should she get help and not me.
I know that makes me a bad person but i just can't help it. She was an Emo btw and in every other aspect of her personality she was an attention seeker. I just felt as though she was making a mockery of SH and that she is the reason that Self harmers all get classed as attention seekers.
1. I never really thought of it. I hadn't known anyone who had done it but had heard about it and thought it would help..
2. I thought they were obviously hurting and needed help. Which is ironic now.
3. I have never seen scars on other people.
In recovery since April 2010.
You give me strength, Jacob.
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I didn't know that other people did it before I did. I thought I was the only person.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I wasn't aware that people did it at that point
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them?
I first saw scars on my best friend and then my cousin, I didn't react badly, I just told them I knew what they were going through and that I was always here to listen
~Here I am at your feet in my brokenness complete~
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I didnt know what it was untill after i started it.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
i'd never come accross anyone who did it before i started.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them? I just sort of smile and avoid staring.It makes me want to tell them that they aren't alone.
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
To be honest I didn't really think about it that much. I knew people used it as a coping strategy but that was about it
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I felt sorry for people who did it but I never understood what made them so upset they needed to hurt themselves.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them? The only SI scars I've seen are on my two friends and I didn't react badly to them. My opinion of my friends didn't change I just let them know I was there if they ever wanted to talk about it.
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I really didnt think much about it. I had always though that you only SI to be emo. I see now that I was so wrong. I didnt really think of it as a coping mechanism.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I would think that there doing it for attention or just to have the title of emo. But I was wrong. I also knew that people who did SI had a lot of stuff going on and they needed a way out too.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them? I never saw SI scars before. And if I did I wouldnt have known it. I dont know how I would have reacted.
The moment you feel like giving up, remember all the reasons you held on for so long.
I didnt know what it was when I started, I didnt know other people did it too. I was in 7th grade, and started scratching myself because I was angry. Thats when it all started. It wasnt until the end of my Freshmen year in high school that I met another person who did it also. Thats when I realized I wasnt the only one, and started researching like crazy.
"So what, your saying im your brand of heroin?" "You are exactly my brand of heroin"
"So the Lion fell in love with the Lamb"
"What a stupid Lamb"
"What a sick masochistic Lion" "Why am I covered in feathers?" "I bit a pillow.Or two..." "So exactly why did you decide to ruin Esme's pillows?" "I dont know if I decided to anything last night, we're just lucky is was the pillows and not you"
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I first thought of doing it when I was 8 and couldn't sleep. I picked up a craft knife but instead cut up my curtain. But at that point I didn't think of it as a particular 'thing'. The first time I met someone else who did it was shortly before I started, by a few weeks, when I was 13 or 14. I thought it made that person someone who felt things much more than me, and I felt humbled and inferior.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
I was at the time in love with the girl who did it mentioned above, which probably tainted my view. It was my desire to experience what she was experiencing and in doing so become closer to her and more likely to win her heart that I first tried it. Which is interesting because essentially I was copying someone else, but she was well clear of it by the time she was 16 or 17, while I at 24 am still experiencing it as an involuntary reaction. So perhaps there is something addictive about it.
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them Oddly enough I find it *extremely* attractive - like I literally want to be near those people as much as possible. Not necessarily to talk about the scars, just to know that they are like me. And I'm likely to develop a crush on them solely on the strength of it. I've always found it utterly compelling to see it on others. I always want to fit it and that is a sure sign of fitting in! I rarely ever mention them or bring them up but generally they will notice mine; the visible ones are all my old ones and years ago my mum drilled into me that there was no reason for me to be ashamed of my body and hiding my scars. She was right; by not trying to hide them, most people don't notice mine, despite them being large keloids; only cutters notice.
1. What did I think of SI before I started? I thought it was silly. I remember my first exposure to it was that I read an article in Teen or YM magazine about a girl who did it. It was referred to as self-mutilation then which to me is a disgusting term. I thought the article was boring and I couldn't understand why anyone would do that to themselves. 2. What did I think of people who did it? I never knew someone who did it before I started. I just couldn't understand why someone would do that. 3. If you have seen SI scars on people how have you reacted? I remember when I was in highschool there was another girl who blatantly SIed. I felt that she was just seeking attention since she never tried to hide it. Since then though I find myself intrigued by other people's scars. I've got a sixth sense for spotting scars and I find myself wondering how that person got them if they did it to themself, how they did it. At times it can almost be triggering.
1.What did you think of SI before you even started?
I didn't think alot of it. I'd known a few people that SIed and it was just... something I had to deal with long before I actually started.
2.What did you think of the people who did it?
They were just people, struggling with life. Aren't we all?
3.If you have seen SI scars on people how did you react to them?
I offered to talk to them, often. Often I'd just try and be a friend to them. I felt like they needed a friend, even if it was just me trying, at least it was something.
Annie Kay
I'd like to offer moral support, but I have questionable morals.
Johnny(the hommicidal maniac ^^^)
You think that if you stopped doing something that defined you as a person, that maybe, you cease to be that person?
