Mental Health

Student Turns Scars Into Beautiful Van Gogh Painting To Combat Self Harm

By Abbie Kraft | Update Date: Jan 22, 2017 06:57 PM EST

Self-harm is one of the most common coping mechanisms that often affect teenagers. 18-year-old Amelia Hall went through a remarkable journey where she turned to art to combat self-harm due to depression.

The young student from London went through depression during the start of her teenage years. As part of her coping mechanism, Hall resulted to self-harm, where she cuts herself to numb the heavy emotion she's feeling.

Hall may have gone through tough times, but she eventually made it through as she turned to art to divert her urge to cut. Her story was featured by Mashable as she opened up on how she gave up hurting herself and turned her depression into a work of art.

"Self-harm is something I've struggled with as a way of coping with depression, but in the last few, months, I've decided it's no longer something I wanted to do," Hall said. "I wanted to find a more positive way of coping. This is why I chose to paint on my leg instead."

Hall then added that she decided to divert the negative energy brought about by depression into a work of art. She mentioned that painting on her skin gives her the same coping satisfaction as that of cutting, but with a positive result.

"I wanted to recreate a beautiful painting and do something positive to cope. Painting on myself is something I've done before and has always worked, and I know that drawing on yourself is an alternative coping method that is often spoken about," Hall added.

Thousands of teenagers struggle with self-harm in the United States alone. Healthy Place gave out a few tips on how to cope with self-harm, wherein it was mentioned that the individual should have a strong support group as well.

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