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It helps but will there be consequences down at a place of employment from scars? Will it make a difference to a future lover/significant other/spouse if you have new cuts, if you have scars? How long do you plan on self-injuring?

It's really all up to you. I can say it's bad and that the positive benefits are temporary but there are people who have told me that self-injury was the only thing that kept them from suicide or behavior that was more damaging than self-injury in their lives. I think something like stopping when you're using it as a crutch should be done with ideas of what you're going to do to distract yourself, with ideas of how you're going to cope with being emotionally uncomfortable because you inevitably will come across situations where self-injuring seems the easiest and quickest option to emotional relief or whatever it is that self-injury does for you.

I personally decided to stop self-injuring because the positive benefits of self-destruction were outweighed by the negatives of my mental illness. I went back to it for about six months two years later but overall I've stopped. Overall I've found it to be a positive experience. Yes, I have to deal with painful situations without resorting to self-injury, I am sometimes tempted to self-injure. There are negatives, as with anything but I've also gained more confidence in my ability to deal with negative situations and have become closer with the people in my life now that they don't feel they have to worry about my self-injuring.