Whether you're dreading a spring break beach trip or a long, hot summer full of pool party potential, swimsuit season can be daunting for anyone with scars, but especially those of us whose scars were self-inflicted. Let's talk about how to hide self-harm scars in swimsuit season—and whether you really need to.

Self-Injury Awareness Day is March 1. For those who do not self-harm, it is a learning opportunity and a chance to show support for others. For those who do self-harm, however, it's an observance that can give rise to some pretty complicated emotions.

Paradoxically, writing about self-harm for HealthyPlace has been one of the hardest things I've done in my life—and one of the easiest. It's certainly not for everyone, but in my case, publicly writing on self-injury has been an incredible opportunity to both heal and be healed in return.

Reading—or better yet, writing—self-harm recovery poems can be a simple, accessible means of coping with difficult feelings around self-injury and the healing process.

It can be tempting to self-harm to escape from something you feel otherwise unable to cope with. It's not an uncommon trigger, one many of us struggle with frequently. But it is a temptation worth resisting; there are better ways to cope.

If you carry the proof of your history of self-harm on your skin, you may have thought about what life would be like without those scars. But is self-harm scar removal surgery necessary?

It's hard to know when to ask for help—and, for many, the asking is hard, too. But for an issue as serious as self-harm, getting self-help can be a key stepping stone on the path to self-injury recovery.

Self-harm and dissociation, separately, can be scary things. Together, they can be a frightening and isolating experience, to say the least. Let's talk a little about what that's like, and how to cope.

Self-harm recovery, in many ways, begins with intent. In order to stop hurting yourself, you first have to make a conscious decision to do so. That's the first difficult step; the next is figuring out how to keep that resolution once you've made it.

In my experience, self-harm and self-hatred go hand in hand. The vicious cycle they create together can be tough to break—but with time, patience, and practice, self-injury recovery is possible.