Imagine this: You’re laying in your bed after a long day, fingers instantly gravitating towards the cold screen in your pocket, clicking on that chrome music note. The eyebrow razors, the zebra emojis, and even bread scorings are becoming signature symbols for an addiction in the new generation on the popular social media platform, TikTok. You might be asking yourself, “What do any of these things have to do with each other? And what do they have to do with addiction?” Modernly speaking, self-harm is a dangerous problem. I’m not saying the correlation with the internet is the dangerous part of it but more so the likely fatal outcome of it. The modern day challenges mixed in with the daily struggles of someone who self-harms is an overwhelming amount of stress added to their everyday lives. Especially with the younger generation, self-harm needs to be noticed before they notice it.
Preventing self-injury would be significantly altering, because of the rising prices of hospital stays. Who wants to pay $2000 for a day at a mental hospital? I can say that I’m sure I wouldn’t want anyone around me to have to pay all that without knowing how to prevent it. Economically, socially, and, “Practically speaking, parents found the necessity of being available to their child often conflicted with the demands of full-time work. This, along with costs of, for example, travel and private care, affected family finances.” (Ferrey). With the average salary being less than $60,000 and an average hospital stay, $2,000, you’d only have 30 days, which is a month tops, to admit your child in and potentially save their life; too much of a cost? I think so. So start watching out for the signs and cease to the chance of having to ultimately
Following the cost talk, let’s talk about the cost of your actual body. Let’s see how a small thing can turn into an ongoing problem for your body. The Mix, a charity focusing on providing free, confidential, and unconditional support for people who need it, says, “Nerve damage can be quite common in people who’ve self-harmed long term… “for five years, usually cutting around once a week. Eventually, I’d cut so much that I was starting to lose feeling in my left wrist and, over a period of a few months, I completely lost feeling from my elbow down to my hand.”” (Long Term Effects of Self-Harm). As she shares this we can see the grave consequences When you start to go dizzy from either the adrenaline, the blood loss, or even the realization of the situation you’re stuck in, even your nerves can feel the damage you’ve done.
Not only do we want to prevent self-harm, we want to take note of the risks after letting it happen. Mc Evoy, an expert from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, says, “The risk factors with the strongest evidence for an association with self-harm were behavioural disorders, personality disorders and depression or anxiety.” (Mc Evoy). On top of the disorders, the overwhelming anxiety, and heavy depression, they also deal with the physical consequences of the thoughts in their head that can only be released with the satisfaction of the self injury. Envision one of the people you truly care about have to take anxiety meds constantly, go through personality episodes, and at the end, still have to worry about their
Although not all self harm situations include hospital admissions or as intense consequences, why risk it anyway? Why risk the money it takes to support that person? Why risk the physical damage of the situation? Why risk the sometimes permanent cycle of relapse? Why risk not looking close enough and noticing all the changes happening?
By noticing the long sleeves in warm weather, the hospital visits increasing, the money dropping, the pages in calendars being ripped out, YOU can make a change. Reach out to that one friend who hasn’t gone out in a while, that family member who stays in their room, or just give someone random a hug; you never know who might need it.
Works Cited
Ferrey, Anne E, et al. “The Impact of Self-Harm by Young People on Parents and Families: A Qualitative Study.” BMJ Open, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, p. e009631, bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/1/e009631, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009631.
“Long-Term Effects of Self-Harm.” The Mix, May 2025, www.themix.org.uk/explore-our-topics/mental-health/long-term-effects-of-self-harm/.
Mc Evoy, David , et al. “Risk and Protective Factors for Self-Harm in Adolescents and Young Adults: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 168, 1 Oct. 2023, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395623004557, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.017.
