Addiction - Avanzado - Paid Addiction

Haru Wee (not her real name) sometimes slits her wrist to cope with sadness. Pain to relieve pain.

“Nagiging ok ako kapag nasasaktan ang sarili ko. Doon ko kasi nalalabas ang galit at hinanakit ko. Yun yung coping mechanism ko ‘pag depressed ako.” Haru is a 17-year old college student of Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

She looks just like hundreds of other ADZU coed. She is fashionable, a bit emo, a bit rocker. Only her eyes and the hunch of her shoulder reveals a little of how she feels. She feels alone. She had been through heartbreaks. She wants to scream and forget about how depressed she is. But she just cannot. What she can do is hurt herself. She slits her wrists. She bangs her head into walls. She also punches the wall until her knuckles bleed. In these ways she feels good.

That is Haru.

It is not easy when you feel overwhelmed by painful emotions and situations. You feel pressured. You think negatively over things.


Inflicting pain to yourself may be one of those solutions that right away pop in your mind when you want to relieve pain. This mentality may be common to some depressed people such as Haru. Painful acts become physically dangerous means of coping with depression.

Depression is a clinical state where you become physiologically inactive. It basically leads you to suppress your own worth. It also affects your thoughts. You become grounded on emotional pain.

Why do some depressed people think that pain can relieve pain?

“We do not know. It is on their perception,” Psychology professor Jayson Sabdilon said.

They may be disturbed and confused. A lot of things are swirling in their heads that they do not know what is right to do. They may think that pain is needed to equate pain.

It may also be because of their curiosity. When depressed, they explore and later on realize that in inflicting pain to themselves they can express their emotions, making it a coping mechanism just like in the case of Haru.


Does it need to be prevented?

Yes. Any harmful or painful act must be prevented. It is healthy neither to yourself nor to the people around you.

Sabdilon said that talking it out with friends, trusted elders, teachers, and counselors would help. You have to ask questions: What is painful? Why is it painful? What will I do? “Express” yourself. He added that misunderstanding with people around you could happen if you don’t express. This would be useful for them to know what to do to help you. If you are that sick, seek medication right away. Consult those experts in the field.

Find someone or something that can motivate you to stop hurting yourself whenever problems arise. Don’t give yourself the additional burden of trying to deal with it alone. Talking things through can give you opportunity to consider other solutions to problems. It may help you feel less alone, more cared, and understood.

Life is a series of ups and downs. Your attitude towards it matters.