Last winter I was taking a class at my college and we were asked to create a blog as an ethnography. My idea was to observe a Facebook page about self injury and interview page members about their experiences. The blog focused mainly on the effects of self injury on the body and the mind and I ended it with a final conclusion in May 2012. I never thought I would eventually have over 14,000 views on a project that only lasted a few months. I have no way of telling if it helped people or not, my goal was to be as informative as possible and I never had any intentions of people other than my class reading my posts. I do however know that some of the content may have been triggering because even for me it was at times hard to discuss.
This blog is different. From my own experiences I know that self injury is not an easy thing to overcome however I have learned ways to help me cope and safer alternatives. There is no one answer that will lead you to recovery and nothing happens overnight. By looking at other peoples experiences as well as my own we can find ways to help those struggling with self injury find healthy alternatives and forms of coping. Not everyone is ready to stop but even then there are small steps you can take to help you feel better day by day. I hope this blog will help those who need it and will provide a space where people can help one another.
-Emily
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