6/21/10

On Monday while volunteering at the cat shelter, a cat scratched me. A 2 inch long gash across the inside of my wrist.

I fought a battle (and won, or at least achieved an armistice) with self harm that started my freshman year of high school. Long story short, it was rough but i'm better than I was.

So when an ex-self harmer gets a perfectly straight injury on their inner wrist, it's suspicious. I know from experience that "the cat scratched me" is the most used and most believed excuse for self harm. But what about when the cat DID scratch me? Do the scars on my arm justify your discrimination?

I was at a hospital and I simply asked for Neosporin for my wound. The nurse looked at it and outright said "no, we can't help you". She then walked away quickly without making eye contact or even saying sorry.

That broke my heart. That I can't be trusted about something as simple as a cat scratch, even though my issues are behind me and I've been cut-free for over six months. That the size and placement of a cut can be the difference between being treated with respect and being treated as a suicidal freak.

Friends, if someone you know deals with self harm, try and help them. But please, don't judge. It hurts them more than they let off.