Attention Whoor

People whom self-harm only want attention, right? Nobody would really hurt himself or herself out of self-loathing or converting mental pain to physical pain as a coping mechanism.

Hopefully, by this point you’ve caught the sarcasm here. Without doubt there have been these “cut for Bieber” crazy initiatives going on and that certainly bring out a couple crazed fan girls but in reality the only people I’ve met who self-harm for attention are people who might otherwise kill themselves. It’s a cry for help, not a mere “look how sad and hurt I am,” type thing.

In general, people cut, burn or all manner of other things in order to address real pain they are enduring. In my experience (which is unfortunately extensive), people try and hide the evidence of this pain by keeping it to areas that are hidden by clothing. Common areas of self-harm are: arms, waist, belly, thighs, and back of the knees; none of these places are challenging to hide - especially from an eye that isn’t looking for them.

I have tried to explain to many people who have no personal experience with self-mutilation the appeal of it. I suppose it could be my lack of verbal eloquence but I have never been able to fully express why anyone would be willing to slice open their skin or hold a lighter to their arm. I can say that I did it because I didn’t know what else to do to make the hurting stop; certainly not because I was hoping for some pity.

Furthermore I haven’t quite mastered how to articulate the addicting aspect of this horrific action. People have said, “sure I get trying it once to see how it feels and if it helps but why keep going?” and the answer is (like with any other addiction) because for a short time it works. PLEASE don’t assume that I am in any way condoning the use of self-harm as an effective coping mechanism, to the contrary I am pointing out how much it’s like using cigarettes to calm nerves or weed to escape reality for a while. Society seems to recognize these things as (although not wise) somewhat acceptable ways of dealing with the world around them but someone who hurts himself or herself is an attention seeker or emo freak. All addictions are destructive in their own way, self-harm has obvious reproductions and is incredibly sad but no more “attention seeking” or “freaky” as cigarettes, week, alcohol, etc.