Self-Harm Through Lens Of Mental Health

Rocky lives in Hartlepool, working as a removal man for a local firm, and subcontracting for the M.O.D. In his spare time he indulges in amateur boxing and his lean, muscular appearance attests to a dedicated fitness routine.

Charlie draws attention to Rocky’s tattoos and imposing presence, which contrasts sharply with his gentle, polite manner, and is one of the things that endeared him to the team.

Rocky expresses his gratitude to the Community Links team for its pivotal role in his ongoing recovery; attendance at C.L. has widened Rocky’s social circle, providing him with an “extended family” with whom he clearly enjoys daily engagement.

Football played a dominant role in Rocky’s boisterous boyhood, bonding him with local lads. At school he struggled to suppress a speech impediment for which he was bullied.

Rocky enjoyed a questionable notoriety among his schoolmates after assaulting a teacher. Prize fighters must begin somewhere, one supposes.

As a young man, Rocky rescued a toddler and her elderly grandfather from a house fire. The local press covered the story and Rocky basked in a different sort of glory for a while. It remains one of his proudest achievements and rightly so.

As the interview unfolds, Rocky describes his mental health struggles, focusing specifically on self-harming and his innovative response to scarring himself through self-tattooing. Rocky explains how he found salvation from the desire to self-harm through artistic expression.

There is no doubt that Rocky is a fighter. He has developed a tough exterior in order to navigate a sometimes hostile world, but behind the mask lies Nathan, vulnerable, loving and essentially decent, a family man, a grafter, no stranger to hard work, and eager to help those struggling around him.

In the challenge of his gaze, the angle of his chin and the tattoos that extend to his neck, some might perceive defiance, perhaps an affront to authority, the legacy of the knocks that have shaped him, but sit with him for a moment and get to know him and you quickly see that he is a man of contradictions: vulnerable, tough, artistic, determined, petty villain, courageous hero.

If there is a lesson here it is surely that a book cannot be judged by its cover, but my God, this one makes for a good read.

Thank you, Rocky, for your warmth, your honesty and for restoring our faith in human nature.