Do you think people who self harm or threaten suicide are attention seekers?

[Noelle Novelty]

Well, I can't really group all people who self harm together. There are people I've seen with Facebook, Instagram, and even Pandora profiles that all go along the lines of "I'm emo and I've got the scars to prove it" or "Yes, I cut. Don't try and stop me because nothing you say will." I personally find that ridiculous. However, in some cases it is a serious issue and become an addiction. I believed the exact same thing you did before I went through some troubling times and got hooked on self harm myself. Luckily, I'm a lot more educated on the subject now. From a scientifical standpoint, cutting or harming yourself releases adrenaline and endorphins into the body giving you a temporary feeling of pleasure or high. When you're anxious, depressed, (etc.) it becomes easy to feel internally numb. You ache to feel something. And what better thing to stir up emotions than pain? And ba-da-bing you're hurt for a second, the numb feeling goes away, then you get high. It's very easy to become addicted to this sort of feeling (I was at one time). In most cases like this, it isn't a cry for help. I remember wearing sweaters in 100 degree (F) heat because I didn't want my scars shown. If anyone saw them, I was mortified and flustered and made up some dumb excuse. Luckily, I'm getting better now and perfectly fine with sharing my story to help others understand the issue a bit more.


In conclusion, you can't group all self harm together. There are some dumb ones that are doing it for attention. And there are some endangered ones that are doing it for the sake of being high.