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Picture Feedback

Having the picture section online has really helped keep my mailbox full.

An anoymous reader sent me this:

I'm not sure what to say, but those pictures really did it for me (self injury). I never knew I wasn't alone. I have a number of cigarette scars on my arems and cut my arms with razor blades until I'd reach to bone (shoulder only) I stitched them all up myself using thread and sewing needle. I have prety much all the crap. Anorexia self injury and attempted suicides. I dont know why I haven't been able to die. Maybe some part of me wants to like me even hough I'm a fat ugly cow. I don't know. Gotta go. Talking about this is no good for me I think.
zaphod120@hotmail.com

Jennifer LeBlanc sent me this:

my name is jennifer and i've been a cutter for a few years and it has total control over my life. i wake up think cutting, sleep cutting. My life is like the quote by winonna ryder in girl interupted " you miss the train you kill yourself you like the movie you live" (along those lines) anyways since i've been seeing a therapist my mode of thinking has gotten worst. Even though i do not cut anymore i still think it a lot. I've been to your website a lot and i download all the pictures because it gives me a sense of relief. i miss the high you get with it. i know this method of relief is becomming very popular and most say that persons that suffer from abuse are the ones who mostlikley cut but i live in a very loving home no abuse. i have a good job.well i guess this letter is a little thank you for having a site that gives me a little relief.
Jennifer

Those pics are incredible! I really wish that I had a scanner so I could send you mine! They're great. Keep that site updated. CapturedSoul

Felicity has these comments:

I'm writing to ask you, as an ex-cutter and a person still dealing with the effects of self-injury in my life, to please take down the pictures you have on your website. They help no cutter or cutter's friend to understand what happens. Instead, they inspire sick, twisty feelings of inadequacy and self-pity, which, in turn, may lead to deeper, worse cuts, and a desire not to stop because "Hey, maybe I can get MY cuts on that site and be famous like Richey James." You're making the problem worse, not better.

And another thing - some of your links have nothing to do with self-injury. Instead, they deal with self-mutilation, which, if you actually knew something, you would realize is different from self-INJURY. Self-mutilation is done to achieve a cosmetic affect... it includes self-piercing, among other things.

Sort things out. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I feel you're making it harder for self-injurers to stop and get help.

Respectfully,

Felicity

Jade sent me this response to Felicitys comments:

I'm writing to you after having read Felicity's email. For some people the pictures may be 'harmful', I personally have never met anyone else who was affected negatively by them. While I'm wanting to respect Felicity's opinion and her reaction I am forced to whole-heartedly disagree.

I also am a recovering self-injurer, I however was infinitely helped by these living testaments to the fact that we are not alone. There is no way that I could have gone this long without cutting without this site, especially the pictures page.

A printed out picture of Richey James (who was brought up in her email in a somewhat derogatory way!) is what brought me to this website in the first place. I would like to both thank you for this site and that particular page as well as request that that page not be taken down. There is a warning and the requirement to obtain a password, which is plenty to safe guard those who wish to veiw the pictures, with the exception of those would use the motivation which could possibly be induced as a subconcious excuse to do what they would do anyways. If someone finds it triggering the first time they go to it, they will know it's effects.

I am also horribly offended by the comment that people who would add pictures of themselves are just wanting to be famous. That comment is sickeningly close to the one that I've been having to deal with for years, that people who self injure are just wanting attention. While I personally have added no pictures of myself I have complete respect for the decision (and bravery to expose this social taboo) of those who did contribute.

I don't think that this site is just well-intention, I believe it's truly helpful in many different ways to many different people. Thanks, Jade

Alex agrees with Felicity:

I'm sorry but I really must concur with what Felicity said about your image archive.

Fair enough to have pictures that people who post or use the site have voluntarily submitted to you, but I cannot agree with the use of the celebrity images. Certain images, in particular the archived Torso section, appear to be glamour images and that really does send out the wrong message.

Nobody is trying to say that cutting is 'Wrong', but I think most people would agree when I say that it should not be considered at all glamourous.

You are aware that sensitive poeple can be suggestible and I think that Felicity is right when she says that certain images - in particular glamorous representations of self-injury - can trigger competitive attitudes. I know because it was one of the encouraging elements that really boosted my problem when I was younger.

But anyway, I just thought I should let you know how I feel; please don't think that I mean any disrespect or that I dislike what your page is doing. Apart from that minor quibble, everything is pretty much top notch.

Woody also agrees with Felicity:

This is some sick, sick stuff you've posted here! I don't see any reason whatsoever to post the pictures on this site; how is any person helped by having pictures here to remind them of their misery?

You had me thinking this site is legit; helping people who self-injure - not so!

I believe you have the pictures here to get your cookies!

Take them down; Felicity wants them down too!

Nin sent me this:

As a self-harmer for some time i was interested to come across your site, however i felt the part which showed photos of self-harm injuries to be very traumatic and unneccessary, why do you feel the need to add these images to your site? surely they will just promote more people to harm and give some people ideas to harm when they may not have thought of doing so before, also it's not a fashion statement so i resented the photos of Richey James up there too!
Nin

Jessica Clark sent me this:

hello. i suppose i should introduce myself in order to give you a little background information so as to understand this email a little more clearly. my name is jessica clark and i am an 18-year-old recovered/ing self-injurer. i have been struggling with severe depression for over four years now and have gone through the therapy/medication process on more than one level. i was an avid member of an online depression support group for three years as well as helping run a second emotional/mental disorder support group for over a year. i have studied depression and self-injury as well as a multitude of other emotional/mental disorders at great depth and am currently planning on mastering in psychology at university.

i recently followed a link from an online aquantences website to your site (http://www.ratatosk.net/psyke/selfinjury/). needless to say i was very very displeased by your use of imagery on the site. please allow me to explain myself.

for three years now i have been struggling to help wipe out the taboo of self-injury online as well as in my own hometown. the reasoning being that many people of all ages suffer from this horrible affliction in silence for fear of being seen as 'freaks' etc. to help people (both self-injurers and nonself-injurers) better understand this disorder i have striven to share information, personal stories, and tears with both the sufferers and their families. when i stumbled across your site i was absolutely pleased to find another good resource until i realised that a huge amount of the information on your site is merely photographs of cuts/burns/injuries in the form of SI.

now, i've always believed in not censoring things, especially concerning SI, depression, etc. etc. but did it ever occur to you that a self-injurer may stumble across your site in their pursuit of better understanding their affliction and be 'triggered' by your imagery? i know that at one point in time when i was at the depth of my depression seeing those images would have given me the inclination to injure myself at least as severely as the injuries depicted. it would have been a validation that i was doing it 'right'. i know many, many self-injurers that would feel the same way.

the fact of the matter is you don't need the photos in order to teach people about SI. you especially don't need the number of photos that you have posted. i understand that censorship should not be an option, and i agree, but blatant showing off of self-injury and the attempt to jade people to it is also not an option. if a parent trying to learn about self-injury to better understand what their daughter/son was going through after finding out that their daughter/son was, indeed, injuring themselves those photos would strike panic and horror in them. it would not help them to better grasp the situation. instead it would force them into being protective, overbearing, and in lack understanding which is everything we are fighting against. on the flip-side if someone visited your site and saw that, perhaps, their son and daughter were not extremists in their form of self-injury they may believe the situation does not call for attention as urgently as it does. neither of these reactions are acceptable yet you leave a huge chance for them to occur based on the information you have on your site.

i'm not asking you to take your photos down, nor am i demanding a warning although i believe that the photo page does deserve one. i'm just hoping that you are offering this information for the right reasons and that you will consider all that i have said.

i thank you for your time.
jessica clark

PS: something i meant to say in the earlier email that slipped my mind - the cuts, burns, scratches, injuries, hair-pulling rashes, stab wounds, etc. they're merely the symptoms. we can't focuse on the symptoms or treat them. we need to focuse on whatever is causing the symptoms. having photos of the symptoms isn't going to help people realise that they are not what they need to divert their attention to. it clouds the point.

Jennifer sent me this:

Tell me... Why do you have photos available on your website? Is your purpose to counsel and help or to trigger the unfortunate people who already suffer from this affliction?

I have a niece who has entrusted me with the knowledge that she has a self-injury problem, and informed me of your site. Frankly, I do not see any help in offering graphic photos of persons who have obviously inflicted fresh flesh wounds! It is rather like a site for alcoholics that offer pages upon pages of differing kinds of alcohol in ice cold condensating bottles!

Please, do tell me the logic behind this seemingly sick form of support. The whole notion rather escapes me. If you do not respond, I shall think you just a sick individual who aims to coax young disadvantaged persons into cutting themselves and sending you a photo. I find it very outrageous.

You may reach me at: <e-mail address removed> I would appreciate a response that could help me see any logic in your approach. Thank You.

Ragdoll (website) has this to say:

Why do you have a section for pictures of self injury? I cannot understand why such an official looking site would do this.

Do you want to trigger people? Do you want someone to look at these pictures and feel that their own self injury isn't "good enough", so they must cut more? It seems like it would spur a sick competition to me.

I can't see any reason why you would want these pictures on your site.

Desirée writes:

i know i'm just some passer by of your site... but i need to say something. those pictures - although there is a warning - are sick. i am a cutter. and i was looking through here, looking for someone to relate to. something to make me feel comfortable. to keep me safe. and those pictures are not what i wanted to see. yes - i did make the personal choice to look at them, but that's just wrong to have them there. if you know they're triggering for people, why put them up? that's just like how the pro ana sights have pictures of girls. it's the exact same thing. saying, "look at how bad this one is... can you do better? (worse)" it's a sick game that people get caught up in. i don't know if you realize, but there are little kids out there. babies. 13, 14 years old... sometimes 10 or 11... searching the web trying to find help. and those pictures aren't helpful. that is one of the most sick things i've seen. i don't know if i'd say triggering for me. . . but i know people who it would trigger. and i don't htink it was very smart to put them up there. it's like beautifying the act of injurying yourself. it's not beautiful. it's sad. terrifying. it breaks you in two. it's not something to put into pictures to display to the whole world as a prized possession. just some food for thought.

Natz writes:

ive just looked at the pictures of self harm on your site. i used to think i did it bad but now that ive seen that i feel squimish. it hasnt triggered me to do it tho, which is good coz im trying to stop (maybe). i just wanted to say thx for putting those images online its made me really stop and think about what i do and given me the chance to see how bad i could get. thx.

1Survivor writes:

I don't know why you find it necessary to show these pictures nor why anyone would want to post them. Also what kind of people would be attracted to look at them? I guess I don't have much room to talk about that, since I obviously looked at them myself. Still, I think I might have a better reason than some since I am a counselor who by the way has a mental illness of his own. I don't pretend to understand what it is like to be a self abuser (though I have felt like it many times over the years) but if I had I certainly would not want my picture on the net.