Depression and Self-Harm

About Depressionas cutting the stomach area or upper thighs and
Moments of depression or sadness are quitepulling small amounts of hair. Even scab picking can be
common and part of living. Depression becomeseasy to hide to an extent. There are some who do
clinical, and a problem to varying degrees, when itthis for attention, as it has, sadly, become somewhat
continues for many months or even years, becomesof a trend, called 'emo'. This is a very small
crippling and makes it difficult or impossible to workpercentage of those who self-harm and mostly
go to school, or occurs for no reason at all.applies to cutters.
Many self-harmers have been abused at some point
But depression can be crippling. Some of thein their lives, and some self-harm internalizing the idea
symptoms are constant sadness, bouts of crying forthat they are bad and need to be punished. In this
no reason, inability to sleep oversleeping, losingway self-harm can stem from insecurity and
interest in activities that you've always loved, notself-hatred, which can lead to depression or come
wanting to do anything at all, hating everyone andfrom depression.
everything, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, etMore self-harmers are female than male, possibly
cetera. These things can all be symptoms ofrelating to a higher number of abused women than
something else, but if you've got more than four ofmen. The average self-harmer is a woman between
these symptoms you should do some research ofthe ages of 13-30, although it could be anyone, male,
your own and take some psychiatric testing.female, young, old, with or without a family. Some
I personally am BiPolar and have actively struggledwho are happily married and have children continue to
with depression for four and a half years. I may havecut, as it helps them alleviate the stresses of their
shown symptoms of depression before that, but Ilife.
am not aware of them as symptoms of depression.The Relationship Between Depression And Self-Harm
The depression became serious when my Dad wasDepression can commonly lead to self-harm, as it did
diagnosed with kidney cancer and was going throughin my case. I was clinically depressed for most of
his treatments. I was always Daddy's little girl, and itthree years before I began cutting, and while the
hurt to see him crippled by the pain of his cancer,original incident was not out of depression but out of
and slowly wasting away.curiosity, I soon discovered that cutting distracted
Depression runs in my family as well. It is notme from the mental pain, blocking it out while I took
completely a genetic disorder, and can be triggeredcare of the physical pain.
by circumstances and a variety of other things, butYou will find this to be a common thread amongst
having family members who have struggled withmany cutters. It distracts them from their daily
depression does increase the risk of getting itstruggle with life and perhaps depression, and gives
yourself.them a rushy feeling. Some like the sight and even
Depression can be painful. It can be fatal, orthe taste of their own blood. There are many
near-fatal, as is my case. It can manifest in anydifferent reasons people self-harm that I cannot
number of behaviours. I was lucky in that I neverdescribe all in one place.
lost a passion for my writing when depressed-in fact,Not everyone who is depressed self-harms, and not
when struggling with depression I have written moreeveryone who self-harms is depressed. Many people
poetry than at any 'stable' or 'manic' time in my life.who are depressed, who often can't quite
There are many ways to help a family member orunderstand why, are either afraid of pain both mental
friend who is depressed, and to identify depression inand physical, or love their bodies and do not want to
yourself and others, but these are not the focus ofhurt themselves. Many who self-harm do so as a
this article.way to escape every day life and prove that they
Cutting/Self-Harmare brave, having the bravery to hurt themselves.
Self-harm is the general term, and the politicallyMany who self-harm are ashamed of the fact that
correct one, for a variety of behaviors, includingthey self-harm, and so they hide it from their friends
cutting, burning, anorexia and bulimia, hair-pulling,and family. The same stands for many who are
scab-picking and other such things. Some of thesedepressed. Depression and self-harm are both things
we do not commonly recognize as self harm, and aremore likely to occur when someone has been abused
not as dangerous as others (scab-picking mostly),in their past, in any way, shape or form.
with the most infamous forms of self-harm beingDepression and self-harm are related, though one
anorexia and cutting.thing does not always signify the other. Many of the
Self-harm and cutting may or may not be related tosame people who are likely to experience depression
a depressed state. Anyone you know may beare likely to self-harm.
someone who self-harms in any one of a number ofA person struggling with depression could be anyone,
ways. People who self-harm are not usually suicidal,even the person you think of as being the happiest
using the self-harm as a method of releasing theirperson you know. A person who self-harms could be
pain. There are many misconceptions about self-harmanyone, even that same person you think of as
and I hope to eliminate some of these with mybeing the happiest person you know.
work.This is not a fully comprehensive article, but the
People who self-harm are not usually doing so forbeginning of a series of articles about depression and
attention. They usually go out of their way to hideself-harm from the point of view of someone who is
the scars, wearing long sleeves even in the summerBiPolar and has struggled with both depression and
or self-harming in ways that are easy to hide, suchself-harm in the past.