For Self-Injurers and their Friends/Family
Self-Injury is the Self-injury is the act of deliberately harming your own body, such as cutting or burning yourself. It's not meant as a suicide attempt. Rather, self-injury is a way to cope with emotional pain, intense anger and frustration
WARNING: Some content may be triggering
Message from Maggie:
A lot of people contact me because they, or someone they know is self-injuring. While the number of resources in the field have grown and gotten more accurate over the years, it is still very difficult to find non-clinical, desensationalized accounts of self-injury and associated coping mechanisms. I don't agree with everything said in the resources I've provided below. However, each one has something in it that I find useful and that hopefully you will too. Since I've never been satisfied with one particular source, I'll also attempt to give my own advice/experiences/things I've learned here. I am not, however a medical professional or therapist, nor can I ever attempt to encompass the ideas/experiences/opinions of all self-injurers. However, if you have any other resources/ideas/advice to give, I encourage you to contact me and let me know.
Websites
- Maggie's Individual Take on Self-Injury and What is Helpful
- SecretShame: For Self-Injurers and their friends and family
- SafeHaven: A supportive message board for people struggling with self-injury and their friends and family
- Self-Mutilators Anonymous: Online and in person 12-Step meetings for self-injurers
Articles
- Helping Those Who Hurt Themselves
- Self-Injury: Beyond Myths (PDF File)
- Self-Injury Bill of Rights (PDF File)
- Self-Injury Educational Pamphlet (PDF File)
- Razor's Edge from Seventeen Magazine
- An Armful of Agony from Newsweek
- Self-Injury Poorly Understood Problem from CNN.com
- Response to Article About Self-Injury in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (PDF File)
Fiction Books
Non-Fiction Books
PLEASE NOTE: These are resource lists made up through the submissions of trusted friends. If you see a resource you think should be included, please let me know by filling in the Feedback box on the Contact Me page