Lorrie Umbac

“For some reason, I believed that I had above all else an obligation to protect everyone-- my teachers, my family-- from the knowledge of my cutting. What they did not know would not cause them pain.”
― Caroline Kettlewell

“Could a scar be like the rings of a tree, reopened with each emotional season?”
― Magenta Periwinkle, Cutting Class

“Told I talked too much
made too much noise

I took up a silent hobby—
Bleeding.”
― S. Marie

“You don't feel like you're hurting yourself when you're cutting. You feel like this is the only way to take care of yourself.”
― Marilee Strong, A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain