[MissAnonymous]

Younger children up to maybe 8 could be told it was an accident, but its all better now. Older children probably shouldn't be told the direct truth because I would imagine that would conflict with the job of focusing on their care. Also, being a children's ward up to the age of 16 you may well come across a lot of young self harmers [or young people in a very vulnerable mental state] or people who have come into hospital for an overdose. I would say you were 'unwell when you got hurt, but you've gotten better'. They can read into that as much or as little as they do, its not a lie, but its not a graphic explanation that would mean they have to visualise 'cutting' when you explain. I would shy away from saying its self inflicted because I think you'd need to run any explanation such as this by your managers.

Kids that 'know' what it is, or ask 'is that self harm?' I would personally say 'yes, but I have learnt better coping skills now' to make them realise you see it as unhealthy and don't condone it.

My experience is that I OD'd and went into a children's ward at 16 before I started 'cutting' and I got other urges to harm myself whilst there and because of being on the ward I couldn't access medication and so I did start looking for any other means. Which included restricting food akin to the anorexic girl opposite to me. I already had anorexic traits, but anything that could have given me ideas would have been used considering the reasons I was there.

Its a really difficult one because of the ethics of sharing any personal information, could you have a chat with the ward sister and explain your concerns and ask for formal advice?