Thank you for being brave I too have had self harming issues for the past 23 years and was placed into a youth physc hospital @ 15 yrs of age it really didnt help and there really wasnt a name for it  back then. It was'nt till I was about 20 I came accross an article from a womans magazine may of been Cosmo but it helped me understand why I'd experience these overwhelming emotions to slice my skin up I found that these feelings arose when I was'nt coping mentally well with the negative challengers life had thrown at me like S.A.,rape,assults (just a few for example) I was directing the mental pain into physical pain as a "temporary distraction" .

Now I'm 32 and from time to time I still experience these emotions but I give myself permission to feel and deal with it in a healthyier manner such as you have done from one SH to another thanks for sharing and well done.

It is a long road you are on to recovery and you are travelling it well.  Dealing with what life forces on you is not easy.  As a child you should have been protected and my heart breaks for you that you were not.  It also makes me so mad that people you turned to took the easy way out and didn't act on your behalf.  That was so beyond wrong.  Know that you were not to blame for any of it and you are so strong to write this.  The harshness of life shouldn't be this but I am so very proud that you found a way out to a better life. 

thank you for sharing your story so that others can share that with you and even more can learn from your story. I'm so happy that you've overcome this, but i also know that it must sometimes still be a struggle looking back. you are a strong person and you've done what few others did. i take my hat off  to you. all the best

Mandy, I look up to you so much..
You've been through so much, yet you're willing to share your story, and show us the courageous person that you are :)

I know how it feels to do things like this..
Life for me wasn't so easy a few years ago, and I thought that it'd never get better, but it did..

But I want to say, to others out there, there is ALWAYS a light at the end of the tunnel..
And things always get better, even if they don't look like they will :)
Just stay positive, and trust me, good karma always comes to those who believe :)

Thank you for sharing your story hun..
And I am SO GLAD that you were able to meet your partner, someone who loves you for you, and cares for you the way a man should care for his woman :)

WONDERFUL ARTICLE !!!

Love Thuy xoxoxox

Thanks for sharing your story with us!, you should be proud of yourself.THis will help alot of people and you should be proud of that as well.

Well done sweety and we are always here for you.

this site might help anyone who self harms good luck

http://www.overcomingselfharm.com/

I actually tried to cut myself once when I was a kid. If I remember correctly, I wanted to find out what it feels like to get hurt, but it always happened so fast you don't really notice what it actually feels like to get cut or hurt or bleed. I tried and tried to cut my self, and all i got was a little scratch! And realised that I didn't really need to know, and stopped.  Just as well I stopped.... boy does it take alot to intentionally hurt one's self!  And it is that same strength, turned around and fired back again, that brings people through!

Boy was i a nutty kid! I was somewhere around 13 or 14 at the time. Goes to show it's important to ask a kid Why? before you freak out on them! Cuz they won't tell you once you've gotten all upset on them.

Thanks for writing this, this gives me the confidence there is still hope out there for those who do self harm.

thank you very much

im still recovering but i will get there in the end

Well done.  You have really come a long way to recovery.  You should definitely be proud of yourself!!

xox

thanks guys for the comments i really appreciate it heaps

Thanks for sharing your story. xx

self harm is a major thing. I still do it. I wont lie about it. it is so hard to over come.

I am so glad that you have over come it and it is gret to have the support of your hubby.

it is very sad and very wrong what you have had to go through. no one should ever had to go through what you have had to.

you are a very strong woman and i highly admire you.

I too have been through a similar situation, however when i was at school it made me 'gothic'. i am disgusted at the tags people get placed on them. now you can buy shirts that say 'cheer up emo' and you can dress various characters in 'emo' clothes in games. dont people see that it's not helping?

i too have stopped self harming, my partner and i have been together for 6 years, have 2 beautiful girls together, and are planning our wedding. he is the best thing that ever happened to me, even before we got together. he litterly saved my life.

 I know this may sound weird as I don't really know you, but I'm proud of you.I "dabbled" in cutting as well as other things growing up. I still have a few scars to prove it.

I agree that cutting is not just that an "emo" thing, and I think that the "emo" fad, if you will, is covering up the real problems of people who aren't doing this for attention. It was about self-hatred for me. I hope others read your story though and gain a bit of hope and strength from it.

I am a Survivor too !!!

I did unconcious self harming, I was in so much pain inside, it was actually a relief to have wounds that I could associate the pain with.

Its a terrible thing to do and I bitterly regret it, not least because of the damage it did my children but I have not had those feelings for a long time now.

Thanks for sharing

xxx

I am a Survivor too but did not go through what you did, just a small part of it and I have found it so difficult to overcome.  It has taken 30 years till I met my current partner, and get the affirmation that I am OK to make the changes you have made.  I was a parent trying to fight with what had happened to me but in the end my boys are better men for having to assist me in my survival and as a single parent, to help us survive as a family and make the decisions that brought us here today.

Thank you so much for sharing your past as it gives Survivors like me a look at an even better future.

this advice will be helping someone out there that are or have been in similar situations...thank you so much for sharing this part of your life.....

naomi xoxox

thank you i really appreciate it i take each day as it comes thats how i get through

 Wow, how strong willed you are! You really are amazing to overcome what many struggle with for a long time. Shows that anything is possible if you want it enough. Thanks for sharing your story.

Cath xxoo