LifeSIGNS was founded in May 2002 to raise awareness about self-injury; since then we’ve grown and our mission has expanded. We do our best to provide ideas, inspiration and information across the web and we couldn’t do it without the many volunteers who have created and supported LifeSIGNS over the years. Several new volunteers h [...]
We are 11 years old!
LifeSIGNS was founded in May 2002 to raise awareness about self-injury; since then we’ve grown and our mission has expanded. We do our best to provide ideas, inspiration and information across the web and we couldn’t do it without the many volunteers who have created and supported LifeSIGNS over the years. Several new volunteers h [...]
Living with depression
Depression. It’s arguably one of the most incorrectly used words. Too many people exclaim that they’re depressed when they’re not. They might be feeling down, sad, upset; but they’re not depressed, and probably never have been. I don’t mean to judge, after all, it can be difficult for one to understand the differ [...]
LifeSIGNS and our support forum
LifeSIGNS is an organisation that focuses on awareness and education about self-injury and helps those both who struggle with this, their parents/ caregivers and also professionals. We also have an online community support forum that is passionate about supporting and encouraging those who are struggling with self-injury.
I am a young woman i [...]
Introducing our new YouTube channel
There’s been a lot of activity at LifeSIGNS over the last few months as you’ll know, and one of the great projects we’ve recently been able to see through is to launch our very own YouTube channel, which is managed by Emmie. We hope to be able to reach more people who could benefit from the guidance and support we offer thro [...]
My story with SI – by Laura
My name is Laura and in March I joined the LifeSIGNS team as Blog Manager.
My story with self-injury started ten years ago. After struggling with anxiety from the age of 7, certain events triggered a breakdown, at which point self-injury became my coping mechanism. At 13 years old I didn’t understand what I was doing – all I knew was that in [...]
Donate £5 to receive a magnet in May
As I’m sure you’re already aware, LifeSIGNS is a user-led organisation, running on a tiny budget. By a tiny budget, I mean that we survive solely on donations from our kind and generous supporters. Our overheads are constant, and are actually not so tiny. We simply wouldn’t be able to carry on without your help, let alone c [...]
We need to be resilient, not strong
I’m troubled by the word ‘strong’ in relation to mental and emotional health. We’re encouraged to be strong when times are tough, when we’re under extra pressure at home, college, or work. We’re encouraged, by well-meaning friends, to be strong when we’re being bullied, or when a relationship breaks down, or when we lose our job.
But what if [...]
Self-injury and self image
We recently received an email from Trisha, who works with people in her community. During the course of her work, she carried out a photo shoot and felt that LifeSIGNS may be interested in hearing about ‘Kitten’, a model with personal experience of self-injury, who chose to use her modeling opportunity to raise awareness and supp [...]
No harm ‘contracts’
This article, submitted by experienced contributor Charis, looks at the implications that ‘no harm contracts’ – agreements to not self-injure – can have on those who use self-injury as a coping mechanism.
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Just stop!
You’ve just found out that your friend / loved one is self-injuring. It’s very d [...]
Life’s hardships and the terror...
Life is hard. Everyone has good days, everyone has tough days. The difference between people is in how they each cope with what life throws their way, and for some people, self-injury has become their release – or in some cases, distraction – from the overwhelming pressure of it all.
Jennifer shared her story with LifeSIGNS:
R [...]
The ‘weakness’ of men
In this article, contributed by Adam, the occurrence of SI and emotional distress among men is explored. For more on this subject, please see our information on male self-injury.
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There seems to be some shame attached to expressing emotions. For men I’d say repressing emotion is the real problem; yet guys are deemed to be [...]
How to tell someone about your self-i...
This month, we’ve been encouraging you to tell someone about your self-injury.
If you’ve not seen the details of Tell Someone Month and how to get yourself a free LifeSIGNS badge, please visit the Tell Someone Month web page
It’s all very good us saying “tell someone”, but how do you go about it?
We’ve refreshed our Coming Out webpage to gi [...]
SI and the question of copy-cat behav...
It was November 1998. I had never heard of self-injury; it wasn’t something talked about in the newspapers, or on the television, and there was barely any information on the Internet either. In any case, I was 13 and not particularly interested in reading about such matters.
I can clearly remember the day it first happened. I can remember t [...]
Don’t walk the road of recovery...
In this guest article and as part of Tell Someone Month, regular contributor Kaveeta talks about ‘coming out’.
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“Time is the longest distance between two places.” – Tennessee Williams.
You will come to a moment in your life where you feel ready to begin your road to recovery. More often than not, [...]
Depression, from family, through stud...
In this guest article, Steven talks about his journey with depression.
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My teenage years were a time of despair, confusion, insecurity and punctuated by periods of anxiety and depression.
I had no idea what was going on other than a feeling that something deep inside was wrong but I could not name it or
tell anyone about it. I didn’t h [...]
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