Psych says its ok to SI!?
 

So I’ve just gotten out of hospital yesterday, and I'm staying with my psychiatrist from the hospital. She’s lovely but I don’t feel that what she’s saying about self harm is right. She wants me to have regular appointments with my GP twice a week incase I self harm. So that I can get stitches because I tend to cut really deep. I just feel like she’s letting me self-harm and saying that it’s ok. And I feel that it’s ok to self harm because she’s telling me that it’s something that’s going to happen and that its ok because I use it as a coping mechanism.
Does anyone else think this is weird!?

I can see why you think she is encouraging it sort of thing. I guess maybe her thinking is that your GP can keep an eye on both your mental and physical health so they will know if you have been SIing when you might not necessarily tell them? I don't know but maybe you should clarify this with her. Most people I have spoken to in the profession say they would rather me to SI rather than do anything worse (and like you my SI nearly always results in stitching) because they recognise it is a coping mechanism, an unhealthy one but still. Then they try and work on ways to reduce the level of harm. I think the fact she isn't forbidding you to do it is a good thing but I also don't think she is saying 'yes, fine self harm all you want' sort of thing.

Sorry, that was rather gabbled, but yeah. I would maybe ask for clarification as to what exactly she meant. To be honest I expect it is so they can keep an eye on you. How long were you in hospital for out of interest? xx

Yeah think it depends on the individual circumstances and the type of harming! Good psychs are aware of the need to have a coping mechanism whether it be cutting , biting or whatever and the fact that thereby we're coping by getting that type of release rather than doing something silly is why they say its permissable! Sorry if this doesen't make 2 much sense just now, its early hours!

Thanks for the replys, yea i just felt abit weird about it, i think your both right!
I was in for 3 an a half months.
have u been in hospital b4?

i know my psych tells me im better off self harming than doing something worse.
ive been in hospital for 4months before.
if you want to talk pm me anytime.
xxx

I can remember the relief and overwhelming sense of being cared for when a psych I saw said that he wants to help me find ways of self harming more safely (I frequently OD as a method of sh as well as cutting). Finally, someone who wasn't going to pull my coping mechanism from underneath me. I can't begin to describe how that affected me. Unfortunately, he isn't my psych : ( Having the pressure removed of feeling I need to just stop in itself de-escalated the situation and lessened the frequency of harm at that time. Sorry, just thought I'd share that.

yeah this is what my psych said - that SI is neither good, nor bad, but it serves a purpose. It doesn't sound like she is necessarily encouraging it, but more like she's recognized the need to do it, and that the next best thing would be to make sure that you're relatively safe.
Maybe it would be a good idea to ask her about finding other coping mechanisms, but she sounds pretty good for recognising that trying to stop you from SI-ing will do more harm than good.
take care <3

hiya hun i once made a phonecall to nspcc i think it was to talk about cutting.

Your physciratrist (sp) saying its ok to cut. That was same thing i got told when i called them.
I dunno how long you've been doing it. But i dunno how to word this without like being kinda critical. But if your physciratrist made you stop what would you do when you had those urges??
Some people would try doing it worst. I think your physc is telling you its ok to cut due to not wanting you back in hospital again.

sorry if this is confusing

Sounds to me like your psychiatrist is doing right by you. Having you set up appointments to your GP helps to insure that you can recieve the proper medical attention if needed.

If you think about it in the reverse, you might see that she's not saying you should do it as much as she's helping to remove the pressure of staying self harm free. If she said it's not ok to do, you probably would feel pressured into quitting, possibly before you were ready to. Typically recovery is a process that takes a fair amount of time, and it sounds like your psychiatrist isn't trying to rush you and to also make sure in the event that you do SH, you will have the means to recieve appropriate care. She doesnt want to take it away from you untill you are ready.

Thanks for the replys
it really puts everything into perspective for me.
shes doing the right thing :)
Rach xx

hey hun,
sorry just seen this. My counsellor says as long as im safe, then its ok to harm because its what i do to cope. I think they work on the basis that if they try and tell you to stop then it wont work but if they let you do it you may be more willing to stop.

Yeah would agree with what the others have been saying! Very much the lesser of two evils! In answer to ur question not been in hospital for over 20 years, but know what its like!

Best Wishes,

Craig