self harm/help

[vanguard]

 a mate of mine been struggling for a while and has been self harming. but as hes been getting over his depression he asked me to photograph his arms and the state they was in. so he was the inspiration for these images and that hes not done it any more for over a month.

[kev7d]

Depression is a really awful illness and very isolating to experience.  

[vanguard]

Yep

 

[kev7d]

I really feel for your friend.  I was diagnosed with depression 2 years ago. It came from nowhere. It was very debilitating. I always thought it was something petty but now I know. I spent over a year on medication in this terrible spiral.  I am lucky and back to my "normal" self now.  

Your images are really graphic in what they portray.  

[vanguard]

I've lived with it on and off for 20 years. But self harm is whole new level. I only did it a few times on my legs years ago and I was lucky I got help quick. But watching a mate go through this I realize what my parents went through. But he's in a far better place now.  and away from the terrible job/boss that started all this off.

We agreed that the photos should be done. If only to show others a harsh reality without actually showing his cry for help and the mess of his arms.

 

[FUJI]

I am sure that  most of us have found ourselves in very dark places during our lifetimes, I recall only too clearly many returning from the horrors of WWII, then later the Korean conflict, depression amongst many, with a definite cause, but, as you both point out it can strike almost without warning after a slow build up of negativity.

only very recently my youngest married son, experienced a very sudden and totally unexpected breakdown of this nature.....none of us could fault the speedy action of his GP then the local crisis team, then later the short stay in a crisis unit......it was frightening to witness in someone so close and apparently without a care in the world.

Apparently it was triggered by a single seemingly innocuous event that he blew out if all proportion, triggering an all too real crisis for his close and wider family.

I find myself feeling that I have been very fortunate, to have had all my ( very) hard knocks as a child, so I developed many defence strategies and coping mechanisms along the way.

Thank you for drawing attention to this via your very telling photographs...........it doesn't all need to be landscapes and ducks does it?

Currently a very thoughtful......

FUJI

[vanguard]

Thank you

[ChrisLumix]

10 hours ago, kev7d said:

I really feel for your friend.  I was diagnosed with depression 2 years ago. It came from nowhere. It was very debilitating. I always thought it was something petty but now I know. I spent over a year on medication in this terrible spiral.  I am lucky and back to my "normal" self now.  

Your images are really graphic in what they portray.  

I've had "the downs", "the blues", "the pissed off", many times in my life. But I remember once after a severe bout of flu, I got up one morning to go back to work ... and that was it for the next 10 days. I couldn't do anything, couldn't even think properly. I only knew I'd had clinical depression when I finally worked up to get to the doctors. And that was only a couple of weeks. I can well imagine how dreadful to suffer this very real illness for any length of time.

[kev7d]

Depression is dire. Everything goes to pieces. It is just one worsening spiral that just does not end. People around you see the changes but they don't understand what is happening. It was a terrible period. It took me a very long period of time to go to see the Doctor. Cognitive behavioural therapy was really useful to help me recognise what was happening. And a VERY understanding partner was a blessing she eventually got me to the Doctor. Medication was something I resisted but in reality was a real help. There was no logic to anything. I disappeared from TiPF until I received an email which brought me back to some sense for a little while. I was embarrassed and could not tell anyone. Now I am better I despise it and understand there is no shame in what I experienced. But it was a very trying 18 months. I feel for anyone with the condition as the dark places that your head takes you is just awful. I look back and still cannot understand what and why this happened. I was always happy with little that worried me. And I think I am back that way again but I am mindful of my experience.

[vanguard]

as we all know its alot more common than people think. and hopefully attitudes will change.

[Clicker]

A very thought provoking thread Van... thanks  for tackling and kickstarting a discussion on  a very iintimate story that has affected a number of  us reading it ...

[Kobione]

Very graphic images, and, as Clicker said, a thought provoking thread. Mental Health Awareness is a very active subject out here, and it looks like, because of the 'publicity' that the subject gets, people are becoming more aware of early signs of problems, and hopefully can direct the friend/ family member to get help more quickly than used to be.