Should I Have Intervened?

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My first year of college I was taking a math class. I noticed a boy who sat in my front of me had friends he would laugh and talk with. And one day I got a glance, it just caught my eye, of some cuts on his wrist. He found ways to hide them, but every now and again I’d see a glimmer of them.

And I wondered for weeks if I should say something.

I considered going up to him, pulling my sleeve up and say, “I do it too.”

I thought about how I wouldn’t want anyone to call me out on it if they saw my own.

I thought about how hard he tried to hide it and so I should respect that.

I thought about whether intervening was something I should do for his safety.

But I was in the middle of my own battle with self injury.

And I never did anything.

And I can never get it out of mind…

I never did or say anything to him.

Should I have?

-Quinn

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I'm a 22 year old college student with aspirations too high for my own good. I've been diagnosed bipolar type 1 and have a small gathering of other problems like self-harm, anxiety, and ones I don't talk about (yet). I'm the proud owner of a big and rambunctious kitten. I love to write, I live with my parents, and I always seem to be having some sort of mental flare up.

One thought on “Should I Have Intervened?”

  1. Joel Sax Identicon Joel Sax

    It’s a tough choice, Quinn. Sometimes I have sat down with someone who suffers from depression and told them my secret. Does it help? I honestly don’t know.

    But a cautionary story: if you look at my left wrist, you will see a wishbone shaped scar. I did not do this to myself. I was helping to lift a lab apparatus when I worked at the EPA when one of the other guys lost his grip. The corner pointed down at me and slashed the odd gash. For about a week, I went around with a bandage on my wrist, constantly explaining to people that it was not what it seemed to be.

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