So today was the first time that I have ever told someone about my self harm! It has made me feel so much better and it feels like I have just shifted a ton weight off my chest. I told my best friend and she was really understanding, however I told her by text as I didn't have the guts to say it face to face.
Who was the first person you told about your self harm? How did you tell them?How did they react?
~lucy
Well done for building up the courage to tell someone, i told a woman i used to work with who was my best friend, i told her in floods of tears, and she freaked and immediately told me to hand over my tools, but hopefully your friend is more supportive and caring.
I was 5 years free, but life changed and i slipped
I didn't tell anyone for a long time (six years). My sister found out after about 5 years; my skirt got caught and lifted up. That sucked. Thankfully my family is a "hide it under the carpet" kind of family.
About a year later I met someone at a uni society induction thing and she mentioned at the pub she self harmed (someone asked her about a scar I think), and on the way home (we lived in opposite rooms on campus) I just told her. It was incredibly strange telling someone after 6 years, particularly someone who I had literally only known for about 12 hours. We ended up very close friends though.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
i told some friends at dance cause i didn't have a choice, but swore them to secrecy. and they didn't tell anyone, which really they should have, but i know that i put them in a really bad position by asking them not to tell... i feel bad for doing that.
i went to my town's youth counseling center on my own, and told someone there, and they made me tell my parents.
i think conversations about this are better to have in person than over text, even if it is more awkward for you...
this is my magical medicine cabinet. Left to right they contain: courage, hope, calmness, and strength.
The magical part: They NEVER run out, so borrow some any time you want.
Well Done! You should be very proud of yourself. (:
The first time I told someone was because they had just started self harming themselves so I was trying to help them, and explained that I used to so I could understand how they were feeling. The first time I told someone I self harmed that was a non-self harmer, we were having a heart to heart after she was extremely upset and said that she had OD'd in the past in a suicide attempt.
DILLIGAF
"it’s when you’re acting selflessly, that you are at your bravest"
- Four.
♥
I didn't tell by choice at first. Someone at school noticed me digging at myself with a safety pin in class. Then it was kind of all out to everyone at the same time.
After we moved, I didn't tell anyone by choice. The people who knew caught me either in the act or saw my bandages.
I don't think I told anyone voluntarily until after I had been clean for about a month. I told my tattoo artist. I got happiness tattooed on my wrist over my scars. He kind of knew what they were from but asked me why I was getting the tat, and I just spilled the beans to him.
I can't really remember telling anyone. My mum saw my cuts and told my head of year at school, and then I got a CAMHS appointment through that happening.
Watch the sunrise all alone
Sitting on the tracks
Hear the train come roaring in
Never coming back
Laying quiet in the grass
Everything is still
River stones and broken bones
Scattered on the hill
The first person I told was my best friend Hailea. It wasn't long after I started cutting that I told her. I was texting her and she could tell something was wrong even though I said nothing was. I eventually felt horrible as we kept talking and broke down and told her everything. She was understanding as she had done it before (I didn't know that until she told me then). But she told me how it was a horrible addiction. And always tried to be there for me. She's one of the only people that has stayed and been there for me through everything
I am trying to remember lol. I think I told childline first, they were supportive and calm . Or it was 'friend' who used to sh: erm she told my other 'mates' though she had promised not to tell anyone and then went on to saying I was pathetic and attention seeking .
That's horrific!
I told my 'friend' after I'd supported her through a rough patch, and she was originally very understanding. But she got tired of it after a month and stopped talking to me.
One of my current friends cottoned on that I'd relapsed the other day, and was pretty cut up, but offered to drive by and pick me up every time I felt unsafe. It's definitely better to have somebody know, so you're not alone. Well done for taking the first step sweet.
xx
The first person was my aunt, I was working with her and one day (valentines) was just too hard for me and I broke down crying and cutting in the bathroom the I told her through tears that I hurt myself and wanted to die etc. her mother also has depression and she said the things I said they would have kept her mother in. She also said she was up all that night worrying about me.
Then I was in day hospital and I didn't realise I had scars on show as I didn't usually cut on outside of arm, and this girl asked me if my cat did that or if I did. It was said so casually and friendly, like no big deal, so I said both, ad she said yeah I have seem I did as well, and then we just carried on our conversation.
First person i told apart from my bf at the time was my boss at work, she was really understanding about it :)
Well done for telling your friend!
I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. How you hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside. ~ Girl Interrupted
When you dont want to feel, death seems like a dream. ~ Girl Interrupted
I never told anyone deliberately, but I never made an effort to hide it, I was young and angry at the world and just didn't care, so obviously people at school saw and I was sent to the councillor. And then my mum saw when she barged into my room and I wasn't "covered up"
I think people now know or rather know I used to because I don't hide the scars, harming is always hidden now though.
Good for you that's awesome that your friend is supportive and understanding.
honestly this is a really sensitive subject for me. The first person I remember telling was my sister & she kept it to herself. We are to this day great friends and I would trust her with any secret.
But when I was in junior high, I didn't have to tell anyone for people to know- not in this town anyway. People simply speculated and that was their truth.
I think it had to be rather obvious though, I couldn't dress out for PE, and one time when I did, I wore long sleeves...
Unfortunately, though, the school colors were black and white & we had to wear white shirts. & one of the girls just blurted out that day, "is that blood on your shirt?"
I don't remember exactly what I said.. but it was pretty humiliating, I think I made up something about barbeque sauce or some nonsense & ran off to change & never came back.
Some time after that, my PE teacher confronted me & I pretty much broke down to her. That was a dumb idea because she was obligated to tell the schoolboard, & they were obligated to do more.
After that, we got into this big tangled awful mess with CPS and behavioral health services, and I ended up dropping out of school in the 8th grade because of it. I took homeschooling & eventually got my GED.
This is one really terrible example of the absolute worst of things that could happen. Everyone I told after that was generally supportive, but when they physically see it, they often don't respond well. My best friend thought there was more she could do & blamed herself. We had a really long talk about this, but I can't tell you how bad that made me feel, like I made her suffer... sorry this is so damn long ugh I feel better having put it in writing, I suppose [:
Give me an audience. Black, loveless eyes. I have hundreds of costumes. But not one disguise.
When I first started self harming in year 10 (last year) I told one of the teaching assistant- she told the inclusion support manager and the assistant head who was also the head of inclusion.
After that I stopped for a while but I started again last September 2012 - that time I went to the inclusion support office and ended up making a disclosure to the inclusion support manager and she told the SENCO who then rang up my parents to tell them that I have started self harming agin - the self harm this time is a lot more server.
Love from Meera
“The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way we can grow is if we change. The only way we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we are exposed is if we throw ourselves into the open.”
“The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way we can grow is if we change. The only way we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we are exposed is if we throw ourselves into the open.”
i've told some of my friends and they just stared at me with a blank experssion for about 10 seconds and then turned around and walked away
I still think the world would be better off without me Some people, when they hit rock bottom, they dont have that person in their lives to pick them back up The mirror can lie, it doesnt show you whats on the inside. I dont think im fixed, people think that your like a car in a body shop, you go in, they fix you and your out, you work like your brand new, it doesnt work like that at all Sometimes i dont understand my self. Im not strong enough and im tired of pretending i am.
First person I told was my 10th grade bio teacher. He helped me talk to the school counselor and then my parents. In the long run I'm thankful I ended up telling someone. Take care dear!
I'm yet to tell anyone beyond the boundaries of this forum. That's because I'm yet to find anyone that doesn't make it apparent in one way or another that they would not react well to the information.
~Hiding Amaranth
"Just because you know my name
Doesn't mean you know my game"
~Marina & The Diamonds - "The Outsider"
.gif "sohappy")
that's awesome that your friend is supportive and understanding.
