I'm not a medical professional. I won't give you advice on how to take care of wounds, because I really don't want to accidentally say something wrong. So please, get information about first aid somewhere else and get help if necessary.
But: If you have open wounds please try to clean/disinfect them and stop the bleeding if possible. You deserve to heal and your body deserves to be taken care of.
I know how it feels to relapse, I know the guilt when you "lose" months of a streak.
Please know that your progress of recovery isn't lost, the fact that you're still here shows that you are strong and still trying to get better. And that's great.
There are people who love you and there are people who went through the same, you are not alone.
It's okay to have to reset. It's okay if your self harm isn't cutting or if it isn't deep at all. You deserve love and care anyways.
If you are clean, even if it is just a second:
I'm proud of you. I'm sure you went through some tough shit and I am proud of you for still being here, fighting. I don't know what you did today, maybe you brushed your teeth, maybe you got out of bed, maybe you simply are alive. Maybe you even did more, did something you were afraid of or didn't want to do. All of that are reasons to be proud. And that you are here, clean, fighting your addiction also is. I don't know if you are proud of yourself, but I am of you. I believe in you.
If you need to cover up:
Please first take care of the wounds. First aid and stuff. Don't cover them up directly, as said before, at least disinfect and put bandages/bandaids on top. Depending on what and where you self harmed you might need to do different things. Also, you don't have to cover up scars, but I get if you don't want to be asked questions or being stared at, etc.
- long sleeves/pants
- also for swimming, plus: you won't get sunburned
- bracelets
- turtleneck/scarf
- gloves (maybe fingerless)
- kinesio tape (only on fully healed ones ofc)
- make-up like concealer on healed scars (cancel out red with some green)
- maybe try henna over scars, like a cover-up tattoo
- these sticky fake tattoo
YOU ARE READING
It does get better.
PoetryPeople say it will get better. But to be fair, most of them never were in your place. They say you will get happy again, but how can they know? I've struggled with trauma, mental illnesses and self harm for many years. These are (mostly) poems - abo...
