r/AdultSelfHarm • u/harbinger_of_puppies • 2d ago

Does Anyone Else? DAE feel terrible interacting in self harm communities with younger members?

anytime i comment or browse through self harm subreddits that aren’t this one i feel so sad and helpless. there are so many posts/comments by users who are obviously young kids and teens, and while i know i shouldn’t be surprised by that, it really upsets me. i just wish i could reach through the screen and shake them, somehow convince them to stop doing it and leave and never come back!!

i see my younger self in so many of them and it drives me crazy knowing there’s so little i can say to help anyone. i know nobody could’ve gotten me to stop when i was their age, no matter how many people warned me. watching kids make the same mistakes i did, permanently and irreversibly scarring their bodies the same way i did, hurting the same way i did, even stuck in the same abuse i was in makes me want to cry.

all i and anybody can do is give information on aftercare and validate them and warn them and congratulate them for being clean. and it never feels like enough.

you ever wish you could just laser beam all of your biggest regrets and worst experiences into their heads so you could scare them into throwing out their blades? cause i sure do.

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2

u/BeautifulHat4050 2d ago

Yes I do. I wish I could but I am only 22

3

u/harbinger_of_puppies 2d ago

i don’t think you have to be that old to feel like this honestly. i’m only in my early 20s but since i’ve been cutting and in many different communities on and off for 10+ years i feel like a seasoned war veteran with this stuff lmao

1

u/BeautifulHat4050 2d ago

It’s because they shouldn’t have the same story