Hmm....
I think it's a shame that a good amount of self injurers are teenagers who are just following the pack. It gives the stereotype that all SIs are simply hurting themselves for drama and to fit in, not because they actually have a major problem. Some of them are teenagers who want to feel different than the crowd, and it's much easier to pick up a knife than develop an identity - others are stressed out individuals who are breaking down from the pain, and the cutting serves as a distraction. [Note: this doesn't cover everyone. This is simply the primary groups of self injurers I have observed.]
I've had friends who ADMITTED to me that they did it for the drama alone, and that they wanted to seem like they were, quote: "In a soap opera." This impacted my views on self injury in a more straight edge manner, and for a while I thought a good 97% of cutters were simply doing this for the same reason. Since I am/was surrounded by teenagers who would rather slice their arms than actually stop to think, "Hey, maybe I should try to solve my problems instead of just moaning away," or "This drama crap is stupid." I began to feel that many SIs were just the worlds biggest drama queens who somehow found gratification through worrying other people with wounds of their own doing.
However, as I observe more and more people that actually DO have major problems and simply can't cope with the stress, a deeper understanding slowly developed in me. If a 14 year old, popular cheerleader came up to me and said, "I cut myself last night," I would most likely think she's just trying to seem different than the rest of the air heads around her, aka :a dunderhead in denial. Don't get me wrong, I would still treat her with kindness, but spiteful thoughts would definitely stir in the back of my mind.
Although, I have been in the position of self injury before, and I discovered that it was the only outlet I could find from the chaos around me. I didn't do it for popularity or drama: I did it because it was the only thing I seemed to have control over, and it created this sort of 'high' in me, relieving the tension I felt momentarily. Any escape was a good escape for me, and even though I knew it was wrong I couldn't bring myself to give up the only thing I could manipulate.
So to sum up: A lot self injurers are attention mongers, others are people at the breaking point with no where else to turn to. I do not support flaming them on gaia however, because you never know just who is at the other end of the computer. Most friends and family members don't know what goes on in their heads - how can you expect to know their life story from a paragraph of text on your screen?
No matter what the case, to want to hurt some one who is doing enough damage on their own is sadistic. They don't even have themselves on their sides, do you honestly think they need you against them too? They can destroy themselves easily enough on their own without you pushing them, you may as well mail them a razor blade.
Show some kindness towards people instead of insulting them to within an inch of their lives, you never know how they are really feeling.
