It was during my first year of university that I first self harmed. The normal freshers’ year reliance on alcohol and a depressive episode led me to hurt myself to stimulate any kind of feeling.

Although that period seems far behind me now, there are many other students who self-harm. Some are not as lucky as I was – I had supportive peers and friends.

Each year, self-harm results in about 150,000 attendances at hospital accident and emergency departments, and around one in 12 young people are thought to injure themselves intentionally at some point. This is why self-injury awareness day, on Tuesday 1 March, is so important.

The reasons why young people self-injure are hard to explain, though it is often portrayed as a cry for attention. There are Instagram tags that feature up to half a million posts related to self-harm, some graphically so.

What lies behind these posts may be a desire for self-expression and an attempt to escape the feelings of isolation that self-harm can bring, according to Wedge, chair of the volunteer-led self-injury charity LifeSigns (the charity only uses first names for its members).

“For people who are self-injuring, it can be a very immediate reaction to what they are experiencing,” he says.

It can be difficult to stop self-harming. Individuals often need time to find new ways to cope with stress, explains Wedge, and the transition to university can be an especially difficult time.

“I absolutely empathise with those students who find living in a new place, with new people, with limited cash, stressful and distressing.”

Online communities among those who self-harm can be very important in coping, says Wedge. “Some social media is too open, but the new fad is moving away from open social media and into private social media.”

Some of these groups are to be found on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and private Facebook groups have been set up.

A study by Oxford University published in 2013 shows that young people who are online for long periods are at risk of more violent methods of self-harm. But it also says that many people go on to internet forums for empathy, and argues that these interactions encourage positive behaviour and a breaking of the cycle of self-harm.

These days, more intimate communities, both physical and online, for dealing with mental health and self-injury exist to help students on university campuses.

One example of a new, smaller kind of community can be found at the University of Bristol. Bristol’s Peace of Mind Society has almost 800 members on its private Facebook group. Posts are submitted to the group’s administrators anonymously and are then reposted on the page so users can give advice and support.

“Peace of Mind was born at a time when the number of students using support services reached critical mass,” says Ben Marshall, an electrical engineering student and the group’s political campaigns secretary. “It started on Facebook and went viral. There was a lot more support for this than anyone had expected.”

One student who has benefited from Peace of Mind is Eleanor Martin, who studies German, and has struggled with self-harm for eight years. “I was told many times it was just a phase. I got a lot of negative attention from my peers. I was told it was just attention-seeking.”

For years, Martin says she didn’t know self-harm was something she could get help or counselling for, in the absence of any education from her school. The injuries she suffered have left her with scarring – they went beyond the typical “cutting” that is most associated with self-injury. “I once shaved my head to make myself feel bad about myself,” she says.

But Martin says Peace of Mind’s community has provided her with a place to talk about managing self-injury and her mental wellbeing.

Similar student-run mental health societies exist at many other universities, such as Exeter and UWE. Other initiatives include the late-night anonymous help service Nightline, with phone calls taken by student volunteers.

Rachel Wood*, a student at UWE, has self-harmed for three years and is yet to tell her parents. She has found the student-run mental health society to be invaluable. “Having a safe place to talk to peers about what you’re going through can boost your confidence, allowing more people to have conversations,” she says.

“Self-injury is so stigmatised, even within the world of those who are more open with their mental health. Telling someone you cut yourself to make yourself feel better is difficult to explain. Self-injury is a lonely journey. Being able to talk about it takes that away – even if only a little bit.”

It is hard to know whether such a group would have helped me when I was self-harming, but the existence of these student-run campaigns appears to be having a positive effect in reducing stigma.

“You can tell the truth and people don’t shy away from you,” says Martin. “I’ve never been so open about my mental health in my life.”

• This name has been changed.
  

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

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