Johnny Depp: Has a history of substance/alcohol abuse, petty theft and vandalism. Dropped out of school at 16. Made long cuts on his left forearm to commemorate various occasions in his life – both happy and sad. Described himself as a ‘no-hoper’ and still has self-esteem issues despite growing fame and success. Childhood experiences contributed to self-negating behaviors. Says now he is happier than he has ever been before.

Princess Diana: Parents divorced when she was six. Childhood life was continual chaos. Discovered the night before her wedding that Prince Charles was in love with another woman. Began purging. Then began self-injuring. Would self-injure openly in front of her husband, who ignored her. Threw herself into a glass cabinet at the palace, cut her arms on an airplane and smeared blood on the walls. Cut her chest and thighs with a penknife during a fight with Charles. Sometimes used a serrated lemon slicer to cut. Told an interviewer that, “You have so much pain inside yourself that you try and hurt yourself on the outside because you want help.”

Christina Ricci: Parents divorced when she was thirteen. She developed anorexia at 14. She would also scratch and burn herself with cigarettes or a lighter. She did it when she felt bad about her looks, or wanted to impress friends or boys. She did it to cope. She likened it to having a drink, only quicker, because the body shuts down from the pain and calm comes.

Marilyn Manson: Mother and father overly religious, mother smothered him and father suffered from PTSD. Grew up terrified of the anti-Christ and the apocalypse. Saw family and peers as abusive hypocrites, described himself as a ‘worm’ with no self-esteem as a teenager. Abused drugs, stole, and dabbled in black magic. Began to self-harm in ninth grade by cutting and scarring himself. Continued the practice on and off stage. Described it as “I think that's all a form of wanting to let go, of wanting to get out," and, "It's not something easily described or understood.”

Angelina Jolie: Raised by her mom, a former model. Estranged from her father until her late teens. Was teased a lot by peers growing up for her looks (they saw her as unattractive and thus so did she) and was rejected as a model initially. Had a live-in boyfriend at 14 whom she engaged in sadomasochism with. Was obsessed with blood and death from a young age. Described her first attempts at self-harm at age 13 as attempts to ‘feel something.’ She said, “I didn’t ever feel enough. I didn’t feel close to another person, didn’t feel alive enough…nothing ever felt real and honest enough.” She stopped self-harming behaviors when she adopted her first child.

Courtney Love: Parents went through a bitter divorce at age five. Was diagnosed as autistic as a child, then engaged in wild behaviors as a teen, abusing drugs and alcohol. She began self-harming after forming her band Hole, and would sometimes SI on stage. She would break windows and cut her arms.

REMEMBER TO VISIT Suggested Weblinks for links to recommended Self-Harm Online Resources