Watch the video

Then work through the section below

Audio and text only versions available below

Hear

What are the young people saying to you here?

Make a note of what they are telling you, or asking you to do, in your own words.

Reflect

Stereotypes such as “attention seeker” or “only copying  friends” alienate young people

Often we are using such stereotypes to  manage our own difficult feelings about self-harm

Young people may be facing other discrimination or exclusion e.g., for neurodiversity, LGBTQ+ identities, which can intersect with their self-harm

Respond

  • Be aware of stereotypes and how they make young people feel

  • Find ways of framing them differently – what is wrong with seeking attention? Don’t we all copy our coping strategies from each other?

  • Think proactively about experiences of intersectionality – LGBTQ+ identities, neurodiversity

Audio only version

“Oh you’re such an attention seeker, what are you doing?!"
"It’s just a way of bringing down someone’s experience"
"I feel like they say it because it’s a hard thing for them"

  • "Usually people would get “Oh you’re such an attention seeker, what are you doing?!"

    "It’s just a way of bringing down someone’s experience and reducing it to seeking validation from people"

    "I feel like they say it because it’s a hard thing for them ad they don’t want to have to deal with it themselves"