Self-Harm & Its Effects on Us

Self-Harm, It’s not just a trendy subject featured in movies such as Secretary, American Girl, Crash, Girl Interrupted, & The Wrestler. It’s an addiction, to feeling pain, it’s a consequence of our thoughts, and it’s not the solution to our pain, it’s a symptom of it.

Putting yourself together has become a trendy subject as of late, new skincare routines, clothing lines, gym attire, and I think it’s more than just the plus size movement in mind, it’s our mental health on the line. At what point can we just accept ourselves as we are. What if we can’t achieve a magazine look, is this why the standards have been lowered to include more styles of perfection not limited to size, shape, and beauty, I think so. 

It’s always been said that beauty lies within, and that’s so true of most of us, when we’re feeling good, we have the energy to try hard to shine to be at our best and that’s what feels so good about getting to be ourselves. Therefore the more representations of who we can be match our own standards the better. It’s definitely time to branch out and to be more accepting of others it doesn’t mean we have to be attracted to one another. It just means we need to start respecting one another for our own struggles in life. We all get to live this life it’s about what you put into your life that affects how you get treated in life. So never dull your shine because of who you think you should be or look like, eventually we all come to be, no matter what standards we go by. 

So what brings us to hate ourselves? Stop worrying what other people think, spare yourself the heartache, it’s time to worry more about what you think and that includes liking yourself for who you are not be hard on yourself for who you are not. -Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

For some people hating yourself can be about not liking the way you look, not liking the sound of your own voices, feeling like you can’t do anything right. First, figure out where those feelings stem from, was it a period of rejection, have you been ignored, were you not loved a enough, did a partner cheat on you, did you get bad grades, did you not get into a fancy school, did you lose a job, all of these experiences in life can get you to not feel good about yourself, and that’s okay. Know that, “Hating yourself doesn’t make you a bad person or unworthy of love.”

So don’t just stand there, grab a notebook and start taking notes, what are your triggers, how are you feeling, what is upsetting to you, it may seem like a carthartic drawn out process to identify what’s pushing you to extremes in life, but you need to start somewhere and you can’t do this alone. Here are some tips: 

Tips for Overcoming Self-Harm:

• (1) Know Your Triggers
• (2) Know Your Patterns
• (3) Distract Yourself
• (4) Understand Repetitive Thoughts
• (5) Have a Plan in Case You Get an Urge
• (6) Write Down What You’re Feeling
• (7) Exercise, Stretch, Do Calm App Relax
• (8) Read a Book, Try Audible, or Udemy