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In honor of Self Injury Awareness Day, T.I’s daughter Deyjah Harris shared touching words of encouragement to those who have engaged in self-harm like she has. In her lengthy post, she was adamant about those who have struggled with self-harm not being ashamed of their experience because it’s not something to be embarrassed about. For full transparency, her photo in the post gave a glimpse at her arm showing healed scars from past self-injury.
Harris also highlighted that cutting isn’t the only form of self-harm. Other forms of self-harm include burning, scratching, punching, head banging and pulling out your hair. She went on to talk about necessary it is for those dealing with self-harm to open up about it and pointed out how empowering it can be. It’s more important to focus on the people you can help versus how the public will perceive you, Harris said. In the caption, she offered her platform as a resource and encouraged those who are dealing with cutting to share:
“there is nothing that any of you can NOT talk to/tell me about. i told you this was a nonjudgmental and safe space, and i mean that sincerely. although this is only for one day, everyday is a good day to bring awareness to self-harm or mental health in general, especially in the black community.”
In the most recent federal data, there was an estimated 312,000 emergency room visits across the United States for self-injury. Different research studies have shown that non-suicidal self-injury rates are higher among Black girls and typically begin during their teenage years.
