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Tattoos and SI

› Forums › Suicide and Self-Injury › Tattoos and SI

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    • October 25, 2013 at 9:00 am #16437
      Raven
      Member

      Body focused repetitive behavior is a type of self harm. It is also an obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder that focuses on repetitive destructive action on the body. *

      I have had a long relationship with this type of coping. I did not realize it was self-harm until I was 28. I had been doing it for at least 15 years.

      I am also addicted to tattoos. I like them because of the pain, altered state, and beauty they create. I like translating my inner pain into outer pain, and then into beauty/art. I feel that this is the ultimate goal of a self harmer- to transmute inner pain into something easier to deal with.

      I wonder how many of you out there who are addicted to tattoos, are also self harmers? Does getting tattoos regularly keep you from SI (self injury)? Does it make something beautiful out of your pain?

      *Potentially triggering content removed by The Support Team

    • October 28, 2013 at 1:46 am #18942
      Youthspace
      Moderator

      Hi Raven,

      Welcome to our forum and thank you for sharing your experience with SI here. I can hear how intertwined art and self-harm have become for you and what a deep awareness you have about how tattooing affects your state of mind.

      I get the sense that the repetitive behaviour you describe has been with you for a long time and that you only recently made the connection that this might be a form of SI for you. I’d imagine it would be a surprise to discover that something that feels so natural may be destructive as well.

      We are here to support you Raven through whatever you’re experiencing.

      The Support Team

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