POLL: what do you think about self-harm?

It is not healthy for your body or mind to self-mutilate yourself like that. It is the same as using drugs to help cope with your feelings or to "numb" them. It is an addiction.

To me, self-harming is a really serious issue. A lot of people overlook it and don't pay attention to it. They just consider the person doing it to be dumb, attention seeking or "emo". "Emo" is short for emotional - it's not a person and has nothing to do with self-harming.

People self-harm for multiple reasons. It's important that people understand things and approach the situation with respect, understanding and care. Approaching it negatively and lashing out at the person (or people) isn't going to help. Insulting them and being rude or worse yet, laughing at them, will just make them feel worse and cause them to feel stronger urges to hurt theirself.

The important thing is finding out what they have going on - WHY are they feeling the need to hurt theirself? After you find out what's causing their thoughts to hurt theirself, you need to go over the better ways to deal with whatever they're going through. They need to know that hurting theirself is NOT the only, or right, way to handle things. Teach them to let their feelings out in safe ways - with music, art, writing (they can share their writings or they can choose to keep it private and for their own eyes only), or talking to a trusted person in their life.

EDIT - And no... things like tattoos and piercings are NOT forms of self harm or mutilation by a long shot. They're safe (providing you care for them and have them done professionally) and not harmful. They're forms of body art/modification and self expression.

To all the people saying it's funny or weird. NO IT'S NOT. You obviously have never been that upset to the point where you either: think of self-harming, attempt it, or you do it. I'm not going to say what category I fall under, but seriously. it's a serious thing and people have died from it.

we all practice self-harm.i smoke and i eat fried chicken[skin and all].others drink,use drugs,drrive way to fast,multi-task behind the wheel.the list goes on and on,,is there really much difference in all of it??

I quit playing golf

Stupid thingy thing. Yuckkkk :-/

its better than harming someone else?

it doesn't solve your problems it creates a new one.

absolutely stupid.

I don't think it's stupid. I think it's weird.