is there another outlet?

[letigre]

my best friend who ive only known for about 5 years used to cut to extreme when she was a teenager and partly into her 20s, her doctors said she was the second most extreme self harmer theyd ever seen, she has borderline personality disorder and this was only diagnosed about 3 years ago, she is now on the right medication and has turned her life around beyond recognition and im so proud of her, especially when she told me shes down to 2 meds a day now whereas she had to take 11 plus last time i saw her, i think being in a happy stable relationship has played a big part in her recovery also

im more proud of her though because of her strength and courage to go out and do every day things like work and go to the sport centre because she has white scars all the way down both arms and over her stomach area which are slightly unsightly and will be there for the rest of her life, doctors have told her they cant perform cosmetic surgery and to visit america it would cost more money than any of us could afford and may not work anyway, i know this still upsets her and i only have a few scars on my arm i hate people staring at them while theyre talking to me or having to explain how they got there so i cant imagine what its like for her

what im saying is, you need to look to the future and while i hate to use my friend as an example, i have to get this off my chest

 

[mwb]

Congrats to your friend. This forum brings back some memories for me. A few years years ago a young person confided in me that she was cutting. I was uneducated about the subject & so afraid of what could happen. Then I did some reading & realized she does not want to kill herself; she just needs to relieve stress.

Today, I don't know how this person is doing with cutting but I know she is doing well overall. Hopefully the combination of the right medication & learning how to deal with stress through maturity helped her. I hope all the people here get the help they need or find the strength to overcome this addiction.

 

[jesuschickseven]

Yah the scars are a big deal for me. People who see them recognize what they are almost immediatly because of the patterns on my arm. They treat me like a diseased person and it hurts because Ive made pretty much a full "recovery" and have worked really hard to stop.
Iv'e lost a couple boyfriends and a job because people thought I was nuts even though I hadn't cut in over five months! Even the christian friends I had treated me like some kind of delicate or dying person. Even though they knew I hadn't done it in a long time because they were the ones praying for me!
I'm kind of dissapointed in people because they'll treat a "recovered" drug addict who has been "clean" a while like a normal person but they act like their afraid of me. Iv'e taken to wearing longsleeve shirts and because of that I don't get out too much in the summer...it really stinks...

 

[letigre]

i want to bump this.

 

[Mr.Cheese]

Yes. There is another outlet.
But it involves enduring the pain, letting it wash over you. It takes the time and patience and perseverance to work through it and process it. After the conditioning of self-injury and the causes of it, it is often extremely difficult to learn to use healthier ways to deal with things.
I think that our society breeds isolation. I think that it is only going to continue to get worse. Resisting this and establisning a flesh and blood community with others is what I think is the necessary ingredient ot overcoming self-injury. I'm not talking about a group of people to spend time around. You can be entirely alone in a crowd of people. I mean community. Fellowship. Family. Who when they ask how you are you are comfortable replying with "I feel like a warm, runny turd." There is a transparency and openness.
God intended us to bear one another's burdens. He intended us to be social, not alone.

 

[goldenviolet]

Yes. There is another outlet.

But it involves enduring the pain, letting it wash over you. It takes the time and patience and perseverance to work through it and process it. After the conditioning of self-injury and the causes of it, it is often extremely difficult to learn to use healthier ways to deal with things.
I think that our society breeds isolation. I think that it is only going to continue to get worse. Resisting this and establisning a flesh and blood community with others is what I think is the necessary ingredient ot overcoming self-injury. I'm not talking about a group of people to spend time around. You can be entirely alone in a crowd of people. I mean community. Fellowship. Family. Who when they ask how you are you are comfortable replying with "I feel like a warm, runny turd." There is a transparency and openness.
God intended us to bear one another's burdens. He intended us to be social, not alone.

that is exactly how i overcame it. it feels good to get all those emotions out. i also had a list of things to help me cope so i didn't get overwelmed in some of the feelings.

some of you have heard of this. i had a list of things that helped. replace it with your SI habit. place it where you SI, take it with you. i had a packback full of things and my list. it's basically an emergency kit.

you need to practice other skills to build on them