Photo: (Getty)
Katy Perry took to Instagram yesterday to show love to her fans who are victims of bullying or struggling with self-harm. She wrote this heartfelt message, encouraging readers to love themselves and others more.
The "California Gurl" shared the above photo with the following message:
"That's right folks. Be proud of who you are. Recently, I've been getting a lot of comments and tweets from fans who are struggling with self harm or being a victim of bullying. Which brings tears to my eyes. I want you to be strong. There's only one you in this world, embrace it. And trust me, when you grow up and become successful those bullies will WISH they were friends with you and were nice to you. Karma will do payback to them, just watch. When they bully again, just laugh at their faces or simply say I don't care. If they see it bothers you, they'll continue. If they see that you don't care and that it doesn't bother you, they'll stop! Simple! Stand up for yourself. Make those bullies look stupid. If it gets bad, you can simply tell the authority at school. Another problem is a lot of kids these days who do self harm. It's horrible to me. Don't ruin your skin, I think your skin is beautiful. Putting scars on your wrists or anywhere else is just heartbreaking for me. Cutting yourself doesn't fix anything. Please, just stop. For me, for your family, for your friends, for you. I understand its hard, I've never been through it but I have talked to fans like you. Just be clean for today, and see if you can go up to a week maybe? You can slowly progress to stop. I love you!"
1 out of 4 teens and 9 out of 10 LGBT students are bullied at school or online. Bullying can have serious physical and emotional side effects, including self-harm. People sometimes use self-harm, like cutting, to distract from emotional pain with physical pain; however, there are much better ways to cope with sadness that don't hurt at all -- exercise, listening to your favorite Katy Perry songs, and talking to a loved one or professional, for example. To learn more, take action below.
Katy's beautiful message just goes to show that there is nothing wrong or embarrassing about discussing mental health or seeking treatment. In fact, celebs like Demi Lovato and Brittney Snow have been extremely open about their histories with cutting, and how important it is to talk about it. Demi shared her personal struggles and road to recovery with MTV last year in the documentary "Stay Strong." "There's a light at the end of the tunnel," she said, "And it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it ... just keep working towards it, and you'll find the positive side of things."
If you or someone you know is struggling with bullying or self-harm, tell a friend or family member. If you don't feel comfortable talking to someone you know, call 1-800-273-TALK for 24/7 anonymous help and resources.
