[Catharsis.]

Hi there, Em!

As Dez and Jenna have stated, it really depends on who you ask. As well as varying from person to person, and it can vary from denomination to denomination as well. I was raised a Roman Catholic, and Catholicism is a pretty big tent with it comes to views on these kind of topics. When my parents found out about my SH, they didn't bring up anything about it being sinful. However, we made it clear that we wouldn't tell my grandparents. My grandmother lectured me once on how suicide/SH was sinful in her eyes.

Some more evangelical-ish, conservative denominations would be less accepting, while most non-denominational groups or more liberal denominations of Christianity would be more open. Now, like Dez said, a lot of people find religion as a useful outlet for recovering from SH and other personal issues, like I have, personally, to some extent. I know of some groups in and around my city for young people which encourage their recovery from personal problems through faith in God and youth activities, so sort of like outreach groups. These are organised by religious leaders within Catholicism, which, in my opinion, says a lot about how it isn't always completely closed off to self-harmers. Again, you have other churches which treat SH as a grave sin, a sort of evil which needs to be expelled from the person's soul.

So, it's down to personal interpretation, as well as possibly what the denomination you belong to teaches on the topic. I'd be personally surprised if a majority of churches would reject or look down on you for self-harming, and that's my perspective.

All the best!

~ Gareth