I’ve updated my post on Self-Injury Awareness Day to include material from the Diane Rehm Show, which had a program about self-injury today. Also available as a podcast, the show is a must-listen for friends and family members of those who self-injury, or for anyone who works with adolescents and young adults. I also discovered that FirstSigns has a Tumblog. Awareness is better than ignorance. I have much gratitude to the friend who alerted me about the program as it aired.

Please join me in observing Self-Injury Awareness Day (March 1) by wearing an orange ribbon, or at least taking some time to learn about this behavior. Someone you know may be affected. Knowledge is better than ignorance.

Self-Injury Awareness Day 2011

Each year, the 1st of March is designated as SIAD around the world. It’s a time when we can all come together to help raise awareness about self-injury and self-harm. SIAD has been running for many years, and has become more and more popular in the UK over the last few years, and FirstSigns (previously LifeSIGNS) is proud to lead the UK in self-injury awareness by providing support, information, fact sheets and posters for everyone to use.

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Self-injury is a coping mechanism. An individual harms their physical self to deal with emotional pain, or to break feelings of numbness by arousing sensation.

Self-harm includes many harmful behaviours such as self-injury, but includes such diverse matters as eating disorders, risk taking behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse.

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