Because February is considered to be the most prominent month for cutting, students are partaking in a global event called “Love is the Moment.”
The event is part of the “To Write Love on Her Arms” campaign, a movement started by a non-profit of the same name,
Several N.C. State students are writing “love” on their arms Feb. 13 and 14 to show their solidarity against self-injury.
According to the TWLOHA official Web site, more than 121 million people suffer from depression worldwide. It is also estimated that over 20 percent of teenagers will deal with depression at some point in the years between 13 and 19.
“On the day before Valentine’s Day, as well as the day of, teenagers are supposed to write the word ‘Love’ on their arms to show that cutting is not the way to go,” Natalie Brooks, a sophomore in animal science, said.
Brooks said she heard about the campaign during the last week of January through Facebook.
“I thought it was just another Facebook application, but when I read into it and took another look I found that it was something that I was passionate about, so I spread the word,” she said.
According to Brooks, the campaign hit close to home for her because she had personal experience with self-injury and understands how severe the issue is.
“Someone close to me was cutting and kept it a secret for almost one year,” Brooks said. “I saw no reason as to why she would do this.”
Zack Tondera, a sophomore in civil engineering, said he understood why cutting would increase around Valentine’s Day.
“February is a month that revolves around love, which is hard to deal with sometimes,” Tondera said. “Also, the weather is not the greatest in February.”
Tondera didn’t participate in the campaign because he said he was unsure of its effect but said if it did have an impact, he would consider participating the following year.
“I would write ‘Love’ on my arm if I knew it was going to make an impact, but as for this year, I’m not sure. Hopefully it will grow into something more popular,” Tondera said.Some students say they see this month as affecting cutting more than others due to media influence, however.
“A lot of times, the media presents it as taboo if you don’t have a loved one, or a significant other on Valentine’s Day. This can cause peoples’ self-esteem to drop really fast,” Brooks said.
The non-profit originally began as a story Jamie Tworkowski wrote about his friend Renee, who was a drug addict and cutter, according to the Web site. After Renee was denied access to a drug treatment center because they didn’t have detox, Tworkowski and his friends took her in and had a kind of five-day rehab until they could get her into an actual rehabilitation center. His story chronicled those five days, and the non-profit grew from the story and its cause.
Music was a big part of the original story and the five-day rehab, because Renee loved music, and now TWLOHA has the support of numerous bands including Paramore and Switchfoot.
The non-profit also tries to further its cause with the selling of t-shirts and other merchandise. According to the Web site, 25 percent of all proceeds go directly to treatment and recovery through partner organizations. The rest of the income goes to support the organization and the services it provides the community.
“It’s awesome that something like this has grown into something as big as it is,” Brooks said. “With the help of t-shirts and bands, I suppose the word will get across.”
“The publicity this situation receives from these bands is very helpful,” Tondera said. “It’s helpful that the bands are popular with the targeted audience, and they tell a great message.”
In many ways cutting, and depression in general, are something that are highly under-addressed by students, according to Brooks.
“We as a society need to help these people who do these sorts of things to know that they are not outcasts from society,” she said. “We need to help them know that it’s not something they should be ashamed of, but rather [to] go and get help for.”