TRIGGER WARNINGS: mentions of self harm

Anonymous

January 15, 2026

“My story is largely about my experience with self-harm. I began cutting in the 5th grade at around age 9. I was trying it out, because I had seen a video about it on YouTube and I was a child with a bit of a rocky home life, so I thought it would make me feel better. This was a huge mistake, and being a young child, I had no idea how harmful engaging in self-harm would be. In the coming years, from school years 5-9, I struggled immensely with self-harm. My parents knew about my struggle with the matter, but punished me when I was caught with new cuts rather than taking steps to get me professional help. For a short amount of time during years 8-9, I had stopped cutting completely in order to avoid punishment. However, this was not the end of my struggles. It was extremely hard for me to resist the urge to hurt myself when I was feeling extreme emotions that I lacked the coping skills to control. I ended up relapsing a few months after I had abandoned cutting, and I realized that the punishments I was getting were not actually helping me; they were just making me more sneaky about my bad habit. Today, I still struggle with controlling the urge to self-harm, but I am clean. I have a great support system with people who keep me grounded and check in on me when they can see things are hard. When I am asked about the scars on my arms, I am no longer bothered. My scars and my struggle used to be something I was ashamed of; a huge secret that I could not bear to reveal to anyone. But now, I have accepted that my struggle with self-harm is apart of me, and I am proud of myself for overcoming such a large hurdle in my life. I believe that sharing stories like these is so impactful, and it shows struggling people that they are not alone and that it can and will get better one day.”