Numerous teens look in the mirror and see an ugly, useless person because of society making it seem like you have to look a certain way in order to be beautiful, and because of an image of how the ideal person should look like has set in their minds bullying has increased, leaving people feeling worthless. Most teenagers can learn to deal with bullying and other struggles, but some can only find one emotional outlet, Self-Harm. Lots of parents and peers believe that self-harm is a suicide attempt, where it is really a cry for help.

Self-harm is normally called “cutting” because the most popular form of self-mutilation is cutting of the wrist, even though there are many other types of self-harm. For example more serious types include head banging, bone breaking, and even the amputations of limbs. Also, people don’t only harm their wrists; the location on the body normally varies. For instance, some people cut their inner thigh because it is easier to hide and is less obvious then cuts or bruises on their arms. Many students and even parents believe that when someone harms them-self they cut and use razors, when that is not always the case. Some teens have used other objects like safety pins, broken glass, or even their own nails to harm themselves.

When a person finds out about someone who has self-mutilated some the first things that pop into their head is “they must be an attention w****.” But very few actually harm because they want attention. In fact, most people who harm themselves actually hide their scars and do not tell anyone about it for months or even years. . Lots of times, people label self-mutilators as “over emotional” hence the name “emo.” But they don’t see that not all people who harm themselves are depressed, and they are not trying to be “over emotional” it’s just the way their head makes them see the world. Some have mental disorders that lead them to self-mutilation. For instance, people with schizophrenia may harm because they hear voices in their heads telling them that they should hurt themselves, or other hallucinations. And some children with autism even bang their head against cribs or walls as stimulation. In addition to this, most people don’t see that another popular form of self-mutilation is body modification, or in other words, tattoos, piercings and branding.

Cutting, and other forms of self-harm, release endorphin's that dull emotional pain, so mutilators believe that “if it makes me feel good, why should I stop?” but there are many dangers that go along with self- mutilation. For example, when people harm themselves normally a cycle of some sort forms, like the person harms, which causes shame, which then, worsens their depression or anxiety. And the cycle repeats, over and over again and some often harm themselves worse each time. When a Self-mutilator does go too far, they can possibly sever tendons, sever arteries, or even bleed to death. And if they don’t accidentally commit suicide they can have loss of movement in their limbs, scars or cuts that never heal.

In the end, remember that just because someone may cut, burn, or harm them-self in some other way does not mean that they are “emo” or “attention seekers” and things will get better, they will not always be like this, it may take 10-15 years to stop and break free of depression but it will stop someday. And before you think of bullying someone, keep in mind that even if they look happy or normal at school when they go home they may let out a silent cry for help.