Cutting: Why teens turn to self-harm when they don’t have words for their pain
The Mail & Guardian | 27.01.2026 20:26
The tattoos on Zandile Simelane’s arms tell a story that most people can’t read. Hidden beneath the delicate blue ink of flowers and butterflies, small white scars rise, remnants of the time when cutting herself seemed like the only way to express how much she was hurting.”I didn’t want to die,” the now 31-year-old told Bhekisisa’s television programme, Health Beat, about her teenage self. “I just needed someone to help me through the pain. A part of me was just screaming — screaming internally to say: ‘What is going on? I don’t know what type of help I need, but help me.’”
