Page 189 - Under the Cover of Darkness

Self-Harm v Suicide: Self Harm is not the same as a
Suicide attempt. Lots of people self-harm, never having
any intention of killing themselves. Having read through
the list of ‘Whys’ above, you’ll have seen that none of
them relate to someone trying to kill themselves. If
someone cuts their arms or wrists – which is a
particularly common form of self-harm, especially
among young girls and women, it does not necessarily in-
dicate they were attempting suicide.
STRANGE AND UNUSUAL: It’s not that strange &
unusual. A study in Oxford found 700 in 100,000 females
reported self-harming. In A survey of 13 to 15 year olds
5% of the boys and 8% of the girls said they had
self-harmed, but within the same survey, far less parents
reported that their children had self-harmed. It’s worth
bearing in mind that not all people surveyed will admit
self-harming even if they do. Often it is estimated that
the true figures are somewhat higher than what the
surveys reveal and males and females tend to be different
in what type of information they disclose.
FAME AND FORTUNE: People who self-harm are not
necessarily from financially or educationally deprived
backgrounds. All sorts of people self-harm including well
educated, high achieving, career driven people. So, just to
emphasise this point and leave a heavy topic on a lighter
note, here are a few famous people who have been
reported as being ‘Self Harmers’…
Jonny Depp (Actor): Van Gough (Artist): Angelina
Jolie (Actress): Diana (Princess of Wales): Vivian
Leigh (Actress): Russell Brand (Comedian, Writer and
Actor): Kellie Holmes (Athlete): and there are many
others… (You can find out much more about famous