This week being National Suicide Prevention Week, I've been looking up info on various suicide prevention organizations. While surfing Facebook, I came across a page calling To Write Love on Her Arms Day "gay."
Now, I have two problems with this: first, a Facebook page has no sexual orientation and second, the starter of the group sees the day (on which supporters of TWLOHA write the word "love" on their arms in order to raise awareness) as "pointless" and a way of getting attention in the same way that self-injurers who do not hide their scars do.
Yes, some who self-injure are seeking attention... usually because they don't know how else to ask for help. But no, not everyone who self-injures wants anyone to know. It's addicting and shameful; those who SI because they feel like they need to punish themselves or because they are too numb to feel anything but the physical pain are probably the ones hiding their scars. It's an addictive cycle and a serious problem.
Both years that I participated in TWLOHA Day, I've had peers ask me why I had love written on my arm and what it meant. I got to tell them about an organization who aim to find help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicidal thoughts-- a group of people dedicated to giving hope to the hopeless. A teacher told me that after a relative's child completed suicide, they discovered that the sibling had been self-injuring. The teacher passed on TWLOHA's website and both the parents and their child have found hope.
If that's the kind of impact writing "love" on my arm for a day has, I don't see anything pointless about it.
Resources:
What You Can Do on World Suicide Prevention Day
Facts on Suicide, Self-Injury, Addiction, and Depression
Self Injury Factsheet
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