Mini Blog Post #2 (tw: self harm)

Cutting is a form of gruesome self-stigmatization linked with depression and suicidal thoughts. More often that not, people do not show off their scars for anyone to see but if someone takes part in self-harm, they are taking the risk of the scars being seen by putting them on their body. A person does not just start cutting themselves because they are sad or they had a really bad day. This form of self-stigmatization comes when a person is in so much mental pain that the only escape is to physically harm themselves, perhaps because they believe they deserve to feel the pain or because they believe that it will release the pain. Though a person does not get a needle repeatedly impaled in their skin when they cut themselves, like what happens when one gets a tattoo, they are leaving a permanent mark on their body. The difference in between getting a tattoo and leaving scars on a body is that a tattoo is not automatically associated with depression. However, when a person has scars left behind from cutting themselves, it is automatically known that this person struggles with mental illness. People who struggle with self-harm are often called “weak” and have been known to be “attention-seekers”. These terms come from people who have no idea what it’s like to deal with that level of mental illness. The type of attention that these people are calling for is a call for help, not the “oh, look at me” type of attention. That is why a person might opt to give in to self-harm.