TeenHelp - My friends make fun of self harm

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My friends make fun of self harm

My friends make fun of self harm, I have been self harming for 3 years and they dont know. I've told them to stop, but they wont. What do I do?

Re: My friends make fun of self harm

Hey there,

I think that you need to sit down with them and have a stern talk with them and let them know what self harm actually is and why it is offensive for them to continue to make fun of it. A lot of times, people make fun of the things they don't understand. It's dumb, I know. I'm not saying you have to tell them about your self harm. If you want, you can let them know a bit about what a self harmer goes through and say that you learned this from "a friend you have." Hearing what they actually go through may get them to understand a bit better than what they do now. You can also print out a pamphlet to show them. You can also tell them that you really would like it if they showed you some respect and stopped making these comments around you.

But, definitely try and have a firm talk with them to get them to hear it out. Maybe adding a bit of background to telling them to stop will work.

-Dez

Re: My friends make fun of self harm

Hi,

Welcome to TH! :)

I know this can be difficult. I remember when my family would make fun of people that SH and how much it bothered me.
I agree with the suggestions Dez gave you. Talk to them as if you asked a friend about SH and see what they say or if they change their ways.
If you feel comfortable you could tell them that you struggle with this and that their comments really do hurt you. If you are not comfortable with that though, Dez's suggestion would be great for this situation.
Try to remember they say what they say because they do not fully understand what it is like to be a self-harmer, some of them could harm and not want to admit it so they go along with the others and it could be because they do not understand that joking about things such as SH is not right because they have no idea who is being affected by what they say.
I hope this is helpful and you can send me a PM if you would ever like to talk.

Also, I am moving your thread to the Self Harm forum because I believe it is a better fit there. If you have any questions about this, you can send me a private message and I will reply as soon as I can.

Re: My friends make fun of self harm

All the suggestions listed above are great and should work effectivly. Just sit down and talk to them, let them know how you feel and educate them on what self-harm actually is and why people do it. They need to realize that it's not a joking matter. However, do remember that they say the things that they say out of ignorance, don't come on to them blaming them because then they woun't listen they will just try to defend themselves.
I wish you the best of luck <3