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How Common is Self Injury? |
| While it's quite a shock to learn about self-injury, you may be surprised to learn that SI is extremely common. Many types of people self-injure. And just like the profiles of abuse victims and abusers are widely spread across all demographics and social levels, so are self injurers. They are often people you would never suspect, for example, successful career people, or they are people who care for their families, and there is usually little outwardly signs that there is anything wrong. Many research papers will state that SI is more common among women. Part of the reasoning for this is that men are more likely to express strong emotion such as anger outwardly. The true statistics of self-injurers is unknown. Many self-injurers hold the belief that they are the only ones who hurt themselves in this way. They experience shame, and fear the reactions of others, so do not come forward to speak about it. In places where it has been made acceptable to talk about SI, many women revealed that they have self-injured at some time. |
Quotes from the Bristol Crisis Service for Women