Self Injury/Harm awareness day is a global event organized with different awareness programs annually on March 1. The main purpose of this day is to remove the stigma attached to self-injury and to encourage parents, family members, educators, and healthcare professionals to recognize the signs of self-harm.
Long-term anxiety & depression and self-harm often go hand-in-hand, through which many people self-harm. More than a million people currently engage in self-harm, with methods like cutting, scratching, bruising, and hitting themselves, along with other more harmful methods. And these behaviors are the prime reason that promotes feelings of control and helps relieve tension while helping the person express their emotions and escape the numbness that accompanies depression.
To spread awareness and understanding of self-injury, which is often misrepresented and misunderstood in the mainstream, SIAD is celebrated annually. Those who self-harm are often left feeling alone and afraid to reach out for help because they fear they’ll be seen as “crazy.” This is why SIAD is all about encouraging people to open up about their self-harming behavior and to talk about how they coped with it. People supporting the cause wear an ORANGE ribbon. It also aims to raise awareness, understanding, and empathy around self-harm, and reduce the number of people struggling in silence. The goal of the people who observe SIAD is to break down the common stereotypes surrounding self-harm and to educate medical professionals about the condition.
