Covering Up

[Ambrosia]

I'm not proud of my self-harm, and I hate when I do it on my arms because it's so noticable. I hate when people run around waving their arms around practically begging for everyone to see their scratches and what not. But the fact is, I don't go all out in an attempt to hide my cuts. I can cut up my arms with a couple deep gashes and go to school with short sleeves on and no one will notice. When I go to work I just paste myself in make-up. No one ever seems to even notice my cuts, even when my arms are covered. When I'm in town with my sister, I have to hide them. She has hawk eyes...But at home, no one has ever noticed. Ever. (Knock on wood)

So. Is anyone else like this? Am I bad or something? It's always been this way. Does anyone else get the ability to not have to cover so fiercely?

[Roses_Are_Yellow]

Personally I like hiding mine because then my friends would go and call me a freakin physchopath and blah blah blah. My school councilor would call the cops on me, and I would have to go to the hospital.....being dragged into a police car (it happend 3 times in my school last year) I just wouldn't want to go through all of that...... No ones noticed before. In fact, my friend noticed a faded red marker line on my arm, but she's never noticed the cuts......

..I just cut a few hours ago, and stupid me cut too far below to cover it up with a shirt, and too far up to cover up with bracelets. So, i tried to cover it up with foundation, and I realize after brushing some on that it's way darker then my actual skin tone.

:/ fail,I hope no one notices..

[georgiamay]

I tend to wear long sleeves to cover them, but that's just for me, it makes me feel safer if I know they're not on show. But in PE lessons, I used to wear short sleeves without a long sleeved top underneath, and no one noticed. Mine are on the inside of my arm, so if I keep my arms by my side, no one can see. But when I did trampolining (which I did a lot), arms were a big thing. If you look at the way trampolinists move their arms, you'll see that you can't keep your arms by your side. But even then, no one noticed.

If you walked past someone with short sleeves, you don't look at their arms, no one does. That's why it's quite easy to get away with it, people tend not to look at arms, because there's nothing special about them. But if someone does notice, they become pretty obvious. Like, if I walked around the house in short sleeves, my dad would see them, because he knows about my self harm.

I've rolled up my sleeves and showed scars before because I got a bit hot, and no one noticed. If you act normal about it, no one will notice, it's when you get uncomfortable and try to hide the cuts/scars that are on show that it becomes obvious and people start to notice.

So no, there's nothing wrong with that.

[Love.Hate]

I used too make a huge effort about covering up, i still do when im at my dads house.
But as everyone at mums knows really.. there is nothing to hide?
I dont go showing them off at all i just dont always wear long sleeves etc..
At school i have them covered up with a cardigan anyway.. except on hot days (like today) and noone seems to notice so yeah.. :D

so yeah i understand where your coming from and no there is nothing wrong with it.

[FullyAlive]

I usually cover up somehow, be it a cardigan, a million bracelets, make up. I'm just not comfortable with my scars, or cuts being seen by others who will no doubt judge.

However today I went on a walk in the countryside (ish) with a friend it was just me and her and it was really hot. She told me to take my cardigan off, so I did. At first I was really self concious, but after a while I forgot about it entirely and had a great time. Even when we walked back home on a main road I didn't see anyone even glance twice.

So yeah basically what I'm saying is if you're comfortable with it people are highly unlikely to notice and even more unlikely to say anything. So if you don't want to cover up then that's fine, it will probably go unoticed.

[Fiction]

I've covered my arms up for so long now that it feels weird not wearing long sleeves, even alone in my room. My parents know I self harm, but my little sister doesn't. Even if it was just me and my parents in the house I wouldn't show them off. My dad has never seen my arm and my mum only has twice.

I guess it's just habit now, to wear long sleeves at all times.

[Syvelocin]

I never cover up. I did for a while at the start... then I just stopped because I didn't see the point any more. I don't wave my arms in people's faces either. Actually, I've never even been asked about them except for my doctors. They're quite noticeable, but no one who doesn't know about my self-harm seems to notice. But I would never cover up now. They're just scars, after all.

[Hatsune Miku]

I don't cover them up. It's not like I want people to see, I just don't care. Everybody already knows because of my mom. She found out awhile ago, then she ran her big mouth and told my whole family, which of course made things for me very awkward when I'm around them.

[slappy]

If you hate people seeing your cut arms, stop cutting yourself
It can KILL you. You have a major artery in your arm and its just a matter of time until you slice right through it

[RAWWR]

If you hate people seeing your cut arms, stop cutting yourself
It can KILL you. You have a major artery in your arm and its just a matter of time until you slice right through it

:mad: Helpful....

Anyway, I don't think it's bad, in fact, I admire you for having the guts to do it. Cutting isn't a bad thing, it's not good for you, and i'm not promoting self harm, but it's not the complete freakishly weird messed up attention seeking thing that most people think it is. You should feel comfortable with your body and that's all that matters.

[char0906]

i almost always try my hardest to cover up, except when im around one friend who knows i do it, i feel comfortable because i know he wont ask questions :D
the same as i wont with him:)
but i think that if you dont want to cover up then dont! as long as you dont go waving your arms everywhere i doubt very much anyone will notice :) and if they do... the cat scratched you ;)
haha!
if you need me mail me :D <3

[LittleEpidemic]

I usually hide mine but at home nobody notices. I hide fresh cuts everywhere and as they fade I ease off on hiding. The trick is to pretend nothings different and then nobody will notice, after all theyre just arms.

[bambino]

If I'm going out I'll desperately try and hide them because I don't want friends or strangers seeing. But if I'm at work and roll up my sleeves no-one notices, I guess people just don't assume you SH.

Most awkward moment was when i was with my boyfriend [now ex ;D] and friends, and this girl goes: Oh my gosh do you have a cat?-frowns at my arm-
me: oh yes my aunt just got a kitten
girl: wow he's a vicious kitten -incredulously-
me: yeah he really is -laughs- so cute though
boyfriend: -smirks because he knows I self harm then points at my ripped jeans, then whispers- look youve been having a go at your jeans as well as your arms huh


...i dont think i need to say why i'm not with HIM anymore (:

[Cynical]

I will occasionally hide my arms, but recently i just haven't felt the need to. So far no one has asked questions as long as you don't act all paranoid. Us who have cut before may look at peoples arms occasionally, but most people who haven't cut don't look for that kind of thing so it's rare they will see it anyways.

[Ambrosia]

I realize the only people who notice are people who have lived threw self harm before, or are being nit picky and looking for something to bitch at me about (A customer whom HATES me recently asked my WHATS THAT ON YOUR ARM? I dramatically looked at my OTHER arm and said, "OH You mean my tattoos?").
I don't have to hide them around my boyfriend. He is probably the only person I feel comfortable using my right arm with around (I usually only use my left to reach and grab things, so on..).
Every other time I just act like there is nothing different about me. No one notices if i don't seem to...

So yeah. (: Thanks people.

[Nevermore]

I only cover up new ones with bracelets. Rarely will someone notice, but I do not wave my arms around. I hide it around my parents and sister because they notice. I used to be paranoid but I'm not so much anymore. It's a scar big whoop. What can they do? Nothing if it bothers them, they can deal with it. Mine are obvious, but my arms aren't in people's faces so maybe they really don't notice which is awesome! :)

[MyConfusion]

If you hate people seeing your cut arms, stop cutting yourself
It can KILL you. You have a major artery in your arm and its just a matter of time until you slice right through it

Thanks for that helpful advice ....

But yeah I have to cover up because they don't know and I have some goals I need to achieve that can't be achieved with adults knowing :/

[Ambrosia]

If you hate people seeing your cut arms, stop cutting yourself
It can KILL you. You have a major artery in your arm and its just a matter of time until you slice right through it

Yeah. Because I'm totally going to take my own life into consideration and stop *rolls eyes* <<lawl.

That was probably the least helpful advice I've read in a while.

[NobodysCupOf Tea]

I try and hide my cuts as much as possible, but I have slipped up a few times. A couple friends have seen them and confronted me about it. Defo better for me to hide them in makeup in bracelets.

[Triceratops]

If you hate people seeing your cut arms, stop cutting yourself

Awesome suggestion! Why didn't I think of that in the first place!

Bracelets and wrist bands should be the bane of every self-harmer's life, then again I never made the effort to hide mine because I didn't give a shit. Btw make-up only tends to work if your scars are of a really low severity.

[ashleighhxbby]

If you hate people seeing your cut arms, stop cutting yourself
It can KILL you. You have a major artery in your arm and its just a matter of time until you slice right through it

how DARE you. You're a dick, man.
Anyway, it all depends on who I'm with if I cover or not. Most people don't notice, if they do, they don't say anything. Just make sure you're comfortable.

:)

[The Dudeh]

I always used to try and hide mine but in PE where I had to wear short sleeves no-one ever noticed cause I just kept my arms by my side. But then I moved onto less noticeable places so it's a lot easier to hide now.