I don't see a problem with it. As long as the nurses aren't saying: "Here's a sterilised blade, go crazy with it" there's nothing wrong here. A person who wants to self harm will self harm regardless of what tools they have.
I know that if I hadn't bought a knife especially for self harming, I'd like nurses to give me sterilised blades.
Well the only reason anyone ever gives needles to heroin users is becauses its more diccicult to get hold of needles than blades hence why ther share them.
In my life I have never know as self harmer to share blades, and I've known a lot of self harmers. It's not something people do. You aremt really going to get hepititus (any form) or aids or anything from it because people dont share blades. That'd be the only justification in my opinion to give anyone new anything to potentially hurt themselves with it, if in the long run they could do more damage. Ypu're more likely to get an airbourne infection thant an infection from a dirty blade, which is most likely dirty because of yourself.
The NHS has gone mad, it really has. The whole bloody government has gone mad. Giving blades to people will only make them show up more, with worse cuts. Really, what moron thought this up? I know I've made this basic point before in my previous post but its so silly that its laughable.
If I still cut myself and I wanted a blade the best thing in the world would be for someone to give me a new one. I always used to hate having to go out and buy new ones, which put me off self harming.
Hmm, perhaps the government should give me a job :P
Never forget what you are for the rest of the world will not.
Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you
I think, if they are going in and staying at the hospital fair doos give them one so they don't try and find something dirty/rusty etc..
But not just 'Heres a blade off you go, have fun' kinda thing.
Ali xox
With demons dancing off mirror images reflecting all that you wanted.
So far from perfect, onward we will strive.
Take it for what it's worth, this truth that you've realized.
You're not who you thought you were, it's time to see the other side of what you have become.
i think its an interesting idea. i understand where it comes from. cutting with a clean straight razor will cause less damage physically then cutting with some ruster old blade you;ve been using since you were 15. but i dont think it should open to teens or children and even then only to someone who has an obvious problem with SI, not to the person who made the mistake of doing it the first time. I don;t think blades should be offered after an injury has already been commited either. this should be prevetitive. Someone should have to come in and get a blade and have to injure there at the hospital and recieve medical treatment. blades shouldnt just be available to all who want to cut. i think a well running program like this could be benifitial...but i dont think they would ever be able to work it correctly...
I think it could work. I mean the article states that they would be giving them to adults if they were giving them to kids i'd be concerned.
I also think that it should only be given to people who the 'they are going to self harm anyway' argument really stands up, and people who have a history of not using clean blades, or keeping the injuries clean, repetitive incidents of this.
I also think that the people they are going to give blades to should be those who are seeing someone in NHS and NHS has basically said that 'this person is likely to cause themself an infection etc'.
I also think that if your going to be given a new blade you should be handing in your old one.
It should be done in the hospital, where medical attention is readily avaliable.
But i agree. They'll like this idea until someone dies and cant be revived.
It should just be selected people. Not avaliable to anyone who walks in off the street.
I think it is both a good idea, and a bad idea. For instance, if someone really wants to hurt themselves, then they will. With what they have. For instance, if I really needed to hurt myself, I could do it with what's sitting on my desk right now, and there's nothing sharp. But there's a very high chance of getting infections and the like.
So, if you're going to get a clean blade, that would help me. It would a) make me feel better just to have it and b) it wouldn't cause infection just by using it.
However, I think several things should be considered with this. If they're giving out blades, do they want them back after you use them so you can't use it again. (That would seem to encourage, at least from my view)
If they also give you first aid stuff, that would maybe help someone. Having first aid stuff helps me put a cap on how much I can do to myself. I really hate infections and getting blood on things.
However, I think that if they give out blades, they should also require you to have a session with a therapist of some sort within some short time frame, free of charge, in order to help you start to stop. I also think it might help to have the person wanting a blade to talk with someone right then and there who might understand.
hmm..I don't know if I fully agree with it. Like..on one hand..I guess..people will find a way no matter what..so why not give them something clean? But then..I don't think we have much risk of the blade itself being dirty..as Sarah (I think) pointed out..it's not like most people go around sharing their tools or whatever..that seems weird. So..I mean..all in all..I would say..why encourage it even more..with something that could be way sharper than anything the person could have gotten a hold of previously..and could cause way more damage?
I have no control
Will someone save me?
If you love me, then let go of me.
I won't be held down by who I used to be.
She's nothing to me. ~ Evanescence
Personally i think they are better off doing it in a hospital so if they cut too far they can be treated for it but then again it really is just encouraging people to self harm.
i think it could work, but only if there was something else aswel as being given a blade. and a propper assessment before u go giveing out blades to every tom dick and harry. i dont me a psycatric assessment as such, just....i dunno, something
problems i see with this is 1; the NHS is already struggleing with mental health issues, especialy self harm, because not many people who dont self harm understand it. i feel that this, in short staffed hospitals, to cause nurses to jsut give out blades and send people on there way. becuase, some jsut dont have time for self harmers, some dont understand, and some just couldnt be botherd. now im not saying that all nurse/doctors are like that, but for the minority who are? what happens when they jsut give a really new sharp shiny blade to a sucidle person they have barely talked to?
2; children who self harm, young teenagers who self harm. how would that be delt with? becuase u cant treat the chid properly wihtout telling their parents, but u might be able to give them a blade? so they wouldnt get any help, just the message that its ok.
3; if they are 2 inch surgical blades, they could do one hell of a lot of damage. and i dont mean in a self harming way, i mean someone could get hold of one and use it on someone else.
i agree with a couple of the posters above. i think, for now anyway, it would be much more productive to give out first aid stuff and advice on how to care for wounds. i mean, u dont give drug addicts there drugs, u dont give smokers trying to quite 'healthier' ciggerets that still do damage. i think for this to work, the blades would have to be given out to inpatients, and as one of the first posters said, have to be given back after a certain period of time. i think that would work much better. i also agree that it is more likely to be the minority of attention cutters who would go to get blades, than the ones who had serious deep rooted issues and are a greater risk to themselves. im not saying attention cutters dont have problems, cos they still cut, i think they are less likely to commit suicide or do something more dangerous than cutting. i personally think the majority of cutters would walk into A+E and ask for a blade, even if it was clean. self harm is something that is quite private. i mean, its like i read somewhere on V2 that someones parents found out, took their blades, saw what state they were in cos of it and gave one back, and the person couldnt use it. by takeing a blade from a nurse its letting someone know we self harm, and we seem to spend most of our time trying to stop people finding out.
could we put a poll up somewhere askign whether, if clean sterile blades were available from nurses, would people on here take them? i'm not going to post it cos i read lucy's posts and dont knwo where i shoult put it...
Last edited by [Purple_Rain] : 09-06-2007 at 10:26 AM.
Reason: it didnt make sense lol
"I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell." -Picasso
"No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war." - Picasso
'I have scars becuase I have a past; but they, like my past, do not define my future'
I'm not completely against it, but my overriding reaction is that its a bad idea because it seems more of an excuse for the NHS to avoid counselling and psychiatric help in favour of a cheaper 'solution' or reaction.
I'd prefer to see a service where it is easier to seek help for self harm. Instead of supplying blades they could maybe provide sterilising equipment and first aid stuff, which would help but maybe wouldn't tempt easily-led youngsters into the supposed 'cool' lifestyle of a self-harmer.
Last edited by *Beth* : 09-06-2007 at 09:45 AM.
Reason: typo
Well I'm 13 years old, my mum thinks it's a stupid idea, she's more worried about the fact that 'emo' kids are going to go and get clean blades, and cut to be 'cool'. She thinks I don't go that deep.
i think there's 2 sides to this.
i agree with sterile blades, it has worked with drugs and clean needles.
but supervised self harm...no i don't like that idea, also for inpatients to be allowed to harm, certainly not. one of the main reasons for a lot of people to go IP is to be forced to stop harming, to keep them safe because they are not in control of their harm any more.
also, do you think anyone would try to sue hospitals if their self-harm increased/got worse because they provided the blades??
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
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...
If this all goes through and they do start giving out blades on the NHS, perhaps RYL should start giving away first aid packs as well as 1 Month Free bracelets! :)
As for the General Chat thing, come on. RYL is a self-harm support and discussion community, and talking about issues that affect all of us is important and highly relevant to everyone, whether they want to stop, have stopped or don't want to even.
GC is not here for support threads regarding any form of Self Harm, hence it says no advice threads. It also frowns of triggering material. This is neither.
I really don't want RYL turning soft as it transfers over to v3. I know a lot of people feel the site is quite cutesy and bright (until we get the new skins!) but I think it is important that we don't swing our attitude in a negative (read fluffy) direction. This is RYL, and its roots are firmly in reality - not sugar coating everything. We have tons of measures everywhere to prevent truly triggering material from being in the wrong place, and try hard to maintain an organised forum now we have switched over. I don't think RYL needs to be so politically correct that it bans all intellectual discussion about topical self harm issues, such as this, eating disorders in fashion, obesity etc. General is going to become a very dull place if it has no substance. Every member can inject substance by giving a thoughtful reply to such a thread, or making your their own, and I welcome it.
I don't want political debate in the most heated sense of the word because of past RYL history. Time after time after time when we have let it slide and tried doing without it, threads descended into members hating each other - and those are not two people who then reply to each other’s posts in Serious.
I also don't want really contentious issues, such as Peta, war and other such things because again it just makes everyone mad and we don't need it.
But substantial discussions about subjects such as this further everyone’s understanding of the support and treatment options available to them, and we get to have some stimulating conversation to boot.
It is that sort of thing Live Forum View was made for :)
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...
That sounds like a much better option to me. If they are going to give out blades to people then it needs to be backed up with other help and support. I don't think that they should just give them out to anyone who asks there would need to be some sort of system in place and I don't think they should give them out to people under 16 without their parents knowing about it. Personally I always found it easy to get new blades anyway and I doubt I would have ever considered going to the NHS if this kind of system had been around when I was still SH.
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