To Write Love on Her Arms

A year or so ago I stumbled upon an organization called To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) by accident. I can't even remember now how I found out about it - probably from a blog, but it has become a movement that is dear to my heart.

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

We (I say "we" because anyone can be a part of this) want you to know that rescue is possible - that God is still in the business of redemption. Please go read THIS. (read it all, but especially near the bottom of the page where it says To Write Love on Her Arms)

Today we are raising awareness by writing LOVE on on arms and telling people about the mission of TWLOHA.

Here are some facts and statistics:

*121 million people worldwide suffer from depression - 18 million are in the US (World Health Organization)

*2/3 of people suffering from depression never seek treatment

*Untreated depression is the #1 cause of suicide and suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults (National Institute for Mental Health)

*Often times untreated depression leads to unhealthy ways of coping with the pain and hurt such as self-injury (self-mutilation, self-harm, self-abuse). It can be defined as the deliberate, repetitive, impulsive, non-lethal harming of one’s self, including but not limited to:

1) cutting

2) burning

3) picking or interfering with wound healing

4) infecting oneself

5) punching/hitting self or objects

6) inserting objects in to skin

7 )bruising or breaking bones and

8) some forms of hair pulling

*Experts estimate that 4% of the population struggle with self-injury. It has the same occurrence between males and females, even though in popular culture it can appear to be more prevalent among girls.

*The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year approximately one million people die from suicide, which represents a global mortality rate of 16 people per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds. It is predicted that by 2020 the rate of death will increase to one every 20 seconds.

I had no idea that suicide was the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers. That breaks my heart. I also had no idea that self-injury was so prevalent. If you think that it isn't, just check out TWLOHA's facebook page and read some of the wall posts and comments. It's happening all around you and if you are like me, you probably had no idea. But now you know.

It breaks my heart that people are hurting themselves to TRY to cope with the crap of this world. They are believing a lie - that hurting themselves will help, that it's the only way to deal with the hurt and pain, and that they have to keep how they feel and what they do a secret.

TWLOHA is about a community - a worldwide community - of people loving people. A community offering hope and healing and rescue.

So today I write love on my arm and pray for the people in my life and the people all over the world that are struggling with these things.

And I hope for a future for each of them filled with redemption.

For more information please check out the TWLOHA website here.

The information shared in the blog post was taken from the TWLOHA website.