Self Harm Awareness
It is a global issue that needs to be changed
The action of others:
The goal of the Butterfly Project was to help self-injurers stop hurting themselves. It motivates them with the beautiful images of butterflies that represent those they care about. If the person does not cut, the butterflies fly away when they fade from their skin naturally and they live. The Butterfly Project has no known creator, but has helped people around the world stop self-harming.
To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA), founded by Jamie Tworkowski, was created with a goal very similar to the Butterfly Project: stop self injury. Taken from their site (twloha.com), "Part of TWLOHA’s mission is to make sure people are informed about mental health issues. Our hope is that sharing knowledge and truth about mental health will combat the stigma surrounding it. Two-thirds of people with depression do not seek treatment. We want to see that number change. We believe that help is real and possible for everyone, and we hope education about mental health will open doors for those who are struggling to reach out and receive the help they deserve."
Even more:
There are so many support groups and sites to help an individual in need get help and feel better. Even to an outsider, they can be so inspirational, and can give you an insight to the type of hell a person who self harms can go through.
The goal of the Butterfly Project was to help self-injurers stop hurting themselves. It motivates them with the beautiful images of butterflies that represent those they care about. If the person does not cut, the butterflies fly away when they fade from their skin naturally and they live. The Butterfly Project has no known creator, but has helped people around the world stop self-harming.
To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA), founded by Jamie Tworkowski, was created with a goal very similar to the Butterfly Project: stop self injury. Taken from their site (twloha.com), "Part of TWLOHA’s mission is to make sure people are informed about mental health issues. Our hope is that sharing knowledge and truth about mental health will combat the stigma surrounding it. Two-thirds of people with depression do not seek treatment. We want to see that number change. We believe that help is real and possible for everyone, and we hope education about mental health will open doors for those who are struggling to reach out and receive the help they deserve."
Even more:
There are so many support groups and sites to help an individual in need get help and feel better. Even to an outsider, they can be so inspirational, and can give you an insight to the type of hell a person who self harms can go through.
Self harmers and people affected by it are taking a stand and showing that cutting isn’t to get attention, nor is it something to make fun of. Below are a couple videos that people have made to attempt to explain self harm, because if you've never tried it, it really seems like a terrible idea. They're not trying to promote it, just show people that it really is happening and why it is.
This video^ attempts to explain self harm and how widespread it is, and gives the message that you are not alone in whatever you’re going through.
This video^ does not point out how harmful self harm is to you, but can show someone who has never even considered cutting why they do it.
What we can do:
We can create a campaign in our school to raise awareness about self-harm. We can make flyers and posters to teach our peers how to handle pressure and depression without turning to self-harm. We can also teach how to help others that are self-harming. If the campaign works well in our school, we could even take it to other school to help people all over the area. From there, it could spread nationally, or even internationally through the word of mouth.
We can create a campaign in our school to raise awareness about self-harm. We can make flyers and posters to teach our peers how to handle pressure and depression without turning to self-harm. We can also teach how to help others that are self-harming. If the campaign works well in our school, we could even take it to other school to help people all over the area. From there, it could spread nationally, or even internationally through the word of mouth.
This video^ doesn't completely pertain to self harm, but is inspirational in its own way.
<This video describes and explains the beginning identifiers of self harm in a friend
<This video describes and explains the beginning identifiers of self harm in a friend
Mental Health Foundation. (n.d.). Mental Health Statistics: Self-Harm. Retrieved from
Scott. (2011). Self-Injury Behavior. Retrieved from http://www.scottcounseling.com/wordpress/cutting-self-injury-facts-statistics/2009/02/06/
Teen Help. (2012). Cutting statistics and self-injury treatment. Retrieved from http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-health/cutting-stats-treatment.html
References
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-statistics/self-harm/