Newham Asian Women’s Project launched their self-harm DVD ‘Everybody Hurts’ in London today, and I was thrilled to attend the launch on behalf of LifeSIGNS.

Everybody Hurts has been created by NAWP after extensive consultations with young people across the UK on the syndrome of self-harm and has been financed by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. In collaboration with The Mouth That Roars, the film was written, produced, filmed, directed and acted by the young people themselves.

Although the four characters in the film are fictional, they are based on the experiences of real people and it was moving to hear one of the actors speak openly about her own real-life struggle with self-injury before the DVD was viewed; I’m sure it increased the impact the film had on many of the audience.

The film focuses not on the self-injury itself, but on the emotions and reasons behind it and gives suggestions on how best young people can be helped, together with how they can help themselves. An important point made, and one which is already the view of LifeSIGNS, is that you can’t just tell people to stop hurting themselves, because you are in effect telling them to ‘stop coping’.

I am sure the DVD will be of great help and benefit to anyone involved with the well-being of young people who self-harm.

It is intended that the DVD will be available in libraries, schools and youth centres across the UK and I understand NAWP will be discussing with Wedge the possibility of digitising it for the web later in the year. Everybody Hurts will also be launched in Cardiff, Birmingham, Bradford and Edinburgh in the coming weeks.

It was great to see Ami again after meeting her when I accompanied Wedge to the East London Self-Harm Group last year, and it was good to meet Gurpreet who asked after Wedge. In fact Wedge seemed rather well known among many of my fellow audience members today!

I would like to thank Gurpreet and NAWP for inviting LifeSIGNS to their London launch; we wish them every success with their excellent DVD and look forward to working with them again in the future.