I think it's easier for people to feel sympathy for others when their ailments are tangible, physical. We've all felt aches and pains before. It's much harder to find sympathy when another person's sickness is trapped inside their mind. It makes it seem as if they have control over what is going on inside their heads; I can control my thoughts, why can't you?? But it isn't that way at all. It's not really the victim's mind speaking to them, it's the demons that reside in the dark corners of their thoughts, thieves that come to steal away happiness in the middle of the night. They can't control these demons, so they try to let them out by painting their skin red. Even though their emotions have now entered the realm of the physical, most people still don't understand. They don't understand how someone could hate themselves so much that they would run a blade over their own skin in an attempt to right their wrongs. They don't understand that in those moments, the demons are in control. And there's no telling what they will do. Many people cannot wrap their minds around a concept such as this, but I dare you to try. Tear down the walls of your sheltered little life and see if you can survive one night in her hell. I bet you wouldn't. The mind is the most powerful muscle in the body, why can't people understand that it's fated to take the biggest hit??
There's hope for you yet!! :)