Has anybody ever seen your self harm scars?

[Black wizard]

Has anyone ever seen your self harm marks, if so what did they say? Especially interesting if you are a man and other men see it. Do they see it as weakness or what?

 

[ZwartHartje]

Mine are atypical, I don't have usual cuts across the forearms, instead mine are scattered randomly all over my body, including on my back. I've never tried to hide them and I actually don't really "see" them myself, they're all old and I don't think about them. But once it happened when I was still a member at a gym (ever since Covid I switched to outdoor workout entirely) that someone asked me about it in a really weird way, something about whipping - ? I asked back how he got that weird idea, and it turned out that someone else at that gym had talked sh!t about me! I should mention, I'm a girl but I've taken testosterone and I look like an obvious bodybuilder, or to some who don't know any better even like a trans woman, and yes, some people have a problem with that.

 

[bl33ding_heart]

I have 2 cats so I easily got away with saying they were cat scratches lol.

 

[coolbeans]

a friend of mine questioned the "lines" on my arm and laughed because she thought it was something innocent. i laughed so hard that i was struggling to tell her that i'd tried to kill myself a few weeks before

 

[interna]

i slash flash people constantly since im not ashamed of my scars. maybe its just the environment im in, but no one has acknowledged nor mentioned them, not even family members. maybe in private? but not to my face

people do stare more intently however whenever my cuts are paired with burns (from cigarettes). still hasn't been brought up by anybody but i do notice they look at me for longer whenever i have burns on my arms or clavicles or stuff.

 

[RadiantNumber]

I am even scared to make ones :/

 

[underairpressure]

I'm currently trying to hide my newer scars since they're still dark, but, when most of my scars were pale/faded before, I basically never tried to hide them. People DID sometimes notice, but most were polite and didn't say anything...... there were exceptions though.

Had a coworker lightly mock me. Had an acquaintance pull me into the bathroom to run her fingers over my scars and tell me "not the do it anymore" (extremely uncomfortable btw). And then the few other incidents were people asking out of pure curiosity or surprise, then Realizing and apologizing profusely for bringing it up.

Personally, no one has reacted strongly to them since I started transitioning and presenting publicly as "male". But, that really could just be from how faded my old scars were. Now that I have much more visible scars...... who knows. If I start showing them people might feel emboldened to ask or stare.

 

[Bootleg Astolfo]

I was so proud to show my friend i no longer cut myself (and havent for a long while), she didnt even care. She saw them still bloodied once, you'd think i dunno, they'd be some sort of positive reaction to knowing it's a problem that's been solved, but nah, who cares it's just me.

 

[eyenumbing]

i do not care to show my healed scars. my parents recommend me to get a tattoo to cover them but i do not want any tattoos. i never had an issue with anyone except for my male coworker who pointed them out and asked me why i did it. it made me super uncomfortable, but because i didn't know how to react in that situation, i just told him that i struggled with my mental health when i was younger.

 

[Shadowsight]

My middle school friends saw my first scars while the scars were still new, and they were appalled by it. They must've told a teacher, because the next thing I know, I'm getting called to the school counselor, the school counselor calls my mom, and I get cornered by my very emotional parents at home. I know they weren't trying to hurt me further, but their reaction made me feel worse(their reactions to me telling them "serious" things almost always end up making me feel worse/guilty, so I learned a long time ago to just not say anything lol)

The next and last time someone saw my cuts was at the doctors office over 10 years ago. My mom took me because I had obviously been going through a crappy time mentally, and the doctor casually asked if he could check my pulse(inside my wrist). The fact that I instantly froze up and just looked at him told him all he needed to know, and when he very deliberately asked "Can I see your wrists?" I just burst out crying and he pulled up my sleeve and saw my scars, my mom saw them too, and I was in for more crap at home.

That's the last time anyone has seen my SH scars, as far as I know. I do it all on my upper thighs now, so they're well hidden. If anyone has noticed since, I've never been told/asked about it. My parents def haven't noticed, because they would've DEFINETLY said/done something lol

 

[Bitterly_Nostalgic]

I'm sure other people have seen mine, I don't bother with doing anything to cover them like wearing long sleeves. I haven't had anyone comment on them yet, at least not to my face anyway.

 

[PaperAK]

My ex looked away when she saw and was upset
The other ex who was kinda toxic mostly bonded with me over it

When my parents saw they threaten to kick me out telling me that only mentally ill people do it and I'm not one of them (also massive bigots), when I tried to tell them I think I have mental health issues my mother laughed it off saying I'm just upset when she tells me off and I just need to learn to behave

I will never ask for help, it's pointless and all it does is bring me shame or others shame

 

[enne]

(f) i've been sh since 11, (28now) everyone knows about it, it ramped up with age. i have very very obvious scarring from my arms to my clavical, shoulders, legs. i never flash em, they are just a part of me. for the longest time i was ashamed.
i realized eventually i couldn't cover them. (however i never went out with open or fresh wounds)

i've had people pull me to the side and do the creepy "don't do this for me<3" bit

i've had an old boss pull me away from a customer and saw them and yelled in front of management for me to say "who was hurting me" (too paralyzed by the wtf to call HR unfortunately for me)

and you can only come up with so many stories for nosey kids