Teen turns leg into Van Gogh painting to cope with self-harm
LONDON -- A student recreated Vincent Van Gogh's iconic painting The Night Café on her leg to help her cope with self-harm and depression.
18-year-old Amelia Hall -- a student at the University of Manchester -- wanted to create a beautiful painting as way of dealing with thoughts of self-harm.
"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 explained.
"I wanted to find a more positive way of coping. This is why I chose to paint on my leg instead."
Hall says she's always loved painting, and it has been through this love that she found a distraction technique.
"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," says Hall.
According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, drawing on your skin can be a way to "cope with distress without self-harming". A campaign called The Butterfly Project has been encouraging people to take a pen and draw a butterfly on their skin when they feel an urge to self-harm.
While drawing is a technique that works for some people, there are also other techniques which have been helpful for those experiencing feelings of self-harm, such as writing a diary or letter, listening to music, or phoning a friend.
"I know people who do similar things, and for anyone who hasn't yet found an alternative way of coping, I would definitely recommend trying art," says Hall.
To talk to someone about self-injury, text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. If you are based in the UK, call MIND on 0300 123 3393 or text 86463.
Topics Health Mental Health
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
