Welcome to Gaia! ::

So... one of the biggest focuses of TWLOHA, as we all know, is to deal with the issue of self-injury and boost awareness of it.

I personally have done a bit of research and feel like I understand self-injury pretty well, but I often wonder if anyone else takes the time to do their research and know what they're talking about with SI.

So here are my questions: 1. Have you researched it? To what degree? (online, print, etc.)
2. Do you feel like you have a good understanding of what it is and why people resort to it?
3. How would you define it?

I'll refrain from giving my definition, because I want to see what you guys think before I "taint" it by giving my usual definition.

i haven't specifically researched SI but i have researched depression and alot of times those books mention SI since most people who resort to that have depression.
yes i think i understand pretty well considering i'm still struggling with try to quit. [[two weeks with no cutting!!!]]
i'd define it as any form of self inflicted pain. it could be cutting, burning, self induced vomiting, or even just scratching and biting yourself. and according to my therapist gauging your ears to feel the pain can be considered self injury.

From a psychiatric standpoint, self-injury is considered a "feature" or symptom of more recognized disorders - that includes clinical depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and any number of lesser-known examples.

"Gauging one's ears" means to pierce one's ears, then make the piercing larger and larger by putting in bigger earrings.