Hey, I would advise you strongly to tell your parents.
I completely understand the feeling of dread which comes with this situation. I genuinely (by that I really do mean genuinely) was convinced that my mum would hate me forever, call me an attention seeker and kick me out of the house. I believed that she wouldn't understand and that I would be a huge burden to her if she did find out. Unfortunately, I let this thought get the better of me, and whilst I did tell someone else, I refused to even consider telling my mum for about three years. With that came the absolute torture of having to hide and lie about every inch of who I was, because I was so terrified of her finding out. Anyway, I'm not meaning to turn this into a bit of a fright story, because long story short, I was talking live on a BBC radio station, and whilst my mum was listening, the presenter decided to reveal that I was on anti-depressants (without my permission might I add), which instantly raised questions. So a few months later when I got home from Uni, I asked my mum if I could talk to her, to which she responded well. I asked her not to get angry at me, and she knew I was serious about something, so I just looked at her and said "When I was younger I used to self harm". Of course I cried my eyes out, and she kind of forced me to show her even though I was scared, but the huge benefits that came from this is that I can now wear shorter sleeves around her. And the fact that I can wear short sleeves, means that I have an incentive to never do that again. I've done the reeally difficult part of trying to get out of the initial cycle of the addiction, but when I now deal with less overwhelming urges, I simply remind myself that if I were to cut again, other people would see it, and that wouldn't be good.
Sorry for the ramble. If you feel telling your parents isn't what you can do now, telling someone trusting at least is a good idea. I told a youth worker 3 years before I told my mum, and he reacted in the best way possible. He offered me the chance to talk to him, and he listened to my rants for so many hours. He helped me get counselling which to my dismay, helped reduced the self-harming. All in all, sharing the load is so beneficial in many ways to your recovery. The initial embarrassment of having to admit something like this is far outweighed by the advantages that come with being 'out in the open' as it were. People can offer you their support, and I'm sure that even if your parents don't initially understand, you will eventually get to a point where you can sit down and properly talk them through it.
I wish you all the best though, if you need any advise, give me a PM! :)
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