Abstract

I am a writer and an educationalist: a poet, an author, a trainer, and an activist. For the last 15 years, I have authored papers and books, delivered training c ourses, and spoken to staff and service users in services from prisons to community projects. Although my work is informed by many sources of knowledge, my own experiences of suicidality and self-injury are at its core.The invitation to respond to Fitzpatrick’s article included the specification that it must be ‘academically rigorous.’ Immediately, I assumed that I must adopt a position of third-person objectivity. In this, I am influenced by centuries of thought. From the Enlightenment onward, the scientific method of objective, empirical...