For me it depends on the closeness of the relationship as well as age - when my foster daughter started visiting at weekends she was 10 and we didn't know each other well so I just said I was in an accident. Then after about 18 months when we reached the point where she would stay for the school holidays I used my meds as a way of introducing the idea of depression (I have a condition that makes me feel really bad, so bad that when I was younger I used to hurt myself. But I take the meds to keep me well - she knows people on ARVs so is used to the idea that meds can keep people well and not just make people well).
Then a couple of months ago she noticed the scars on my stomach, so I was honest and said I had done them myself when I was younger. She was quite upset, but we had a long talk about how I keep myself well, and better ways to deal with problems than hurting yourself etc. I am worried because her past experiences and current situation are not great for her psychologically, but I thought it better to keep our relationship based on honesty even about tough subjects, and to try model better ways of coping.
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