So long story short I've been cutting on and off for 5 years. I also have some issues with food but nothing diagnosed. I went for counselling a few years ago and it did help a bit. But I aged out of the service and havn't been back since. My SH has gotten a lot worse in the last while but I'm not sure I really want to get help. The thing is I'm in college and studying a para-medical discipline. This means I have to interact with clients and patients and observe a dress code sometimes. It's fine for now I can hide it all fine but I know that it will become harder and harder to cover up and, whether I want to or not, I probably SHOULD get help.
So my question: should I try out the counselling service in college? It's free and pretty reliable I think. I'm just scared that if I do it will end up on some kind of record that could influence how I'm treated in college. Or that they will contact my parents who think I've stopped even though I am an adult and not suicidal.
Any Thoughts??
"Some things you can't go back to 'cause you let them slip away" - Little Big Town
I've struggled with depression for a good few years now and sometimes I really have no good reason for feeling horrible I just do and so I use cutting as a punishment. Mostly though it's because I'm angry. My family situation isn't exactly settled or supportive...we don't talk to each other we shout at each other. There's always an arguement and it just makes me really angry. I find cutting really soothing. I just feel so calm when I do it and I like that feeling. Maybe it's a control thing, I don't know.
"Some things you can't go back to 'cause you let them slip away" - Little Big Town
I think anytime counseling is available it's good to take the opportunity.
And usually there is a confidentiality law that states that the counselor cannot tell ANYONE else what you tell them by law, and they can also not tell anyone else that you even see them to begin with, meaning that the school board does not need to know that you see them. Also, if you want to make sure of this, you could just ask the counselor in person if you'd like, ask them about confidentiality and if they have to notify anything or keep any records where the school board can see.
But, I think it'd do you good to at least give it a try.
I really loved my uni counsellor, and she helped loads. I strongly suggest you try it out! And if you don't like it, or don't get on with them, they could suggest somewhere else, or your GP could recommend somewhere else.
Good luck x
Some helpful websites for advice & information on mental health:
Im pretty sure they cant tell your parents now without consent. And it could well be very beneficial.
Good luck
He was no longer jean valjean but no. 24601 -les miserable
Some of life's mysteries will never be solved, such as why, after spending an entire evening listenong to Bach, do I find myself humming "the birdie song".......
I am reaching, but i fall, and the stars are black and cold, as i stare into the void of a world that cannot hold- les miserables
Yes definately worth a try, it's all confidential unless you disclose harm to self, harm to others, crime etc that means the counsellor needs to report this but they would do that with your consent.
If you are doing a para- medical course, I think that you owe it to your clients as well as your self to seek help. If the preoccupation becomes how do I best hide evidence of my problems rather than working on them, it is not beneficial for anyone in the long run.
Are you being treated for depression in terms of anti depressants? For some para-medical courses you are expected to disclose to occupational health or the university any issues you might have so that they can approve you for the course and offer you any assistance when it comes to your study. The confidentiality laws should for the most part protect you from having to disclose to your lecturers and parents if you do not want to. However, you may want to clarify with the counsellor what their views are on issues like self harm and persons doing para-medical courses. My counsellor at Uni stated that many students on these sorts of courses accessed counselling services because of the stress alone. It is sometimes mandatory for some courses that you are exposed to personal counselling.
Some work places are quite supportive with regards to self harm issues- but appreciate that some work environments create serious issues because of the risk of infection/ exposure or uniform limitations.
~Happy tomatoes together we will be~
You say toe- may- toe, I say toe- mah- toe:
Let's call the whole thing- red
“It’s time to lead the third revolution, which is not to say we want to be at the top of the world, but to say we want to change the world. Because the way the world has been designed by men is not working. It’s not working for women, it’s not working for men,
it’s not working for polar bears.” Arianna Huffington 2014
If you are doing a para- medical course, I think that you owe it to your clients as well as your self to seek help. If the preoccupation becomes how do I best hide evidence of my problems rather than working on them, it is not beneficial for anyone in the long run.
Are you being treated for depression in terms of anti depressants? For some para-medical courses you are expected to disclose to occupational health or the university any issues you might have so that they can approve you for the course and offer you any assistance when it comes to your study. The confidentiality laws should for the most part protect you from having to disclose to your lecturers and parents if you do not want to. However, you may want to clarify with the counsellor what their views are on issues like self harm and persons doing para-medical courses. My counsellor at Uni stated that many students on these sorts of courses accessed counselling services because of the stress alone. It is sometimes mandatory for some courses that you are exposed to personal counselling.
Some work places are quite supportive with regards to self harm issues- but appreciate that some work environments create serious issues because of the risk of infection/ exposure or uniform limitations.
I'm not on meds at all...talked about them a few years ago but my counsellor then was happy to let me just do CBT without meds. Havn't seen a counsellor in a few years though. When I started in college I thought I had everything mostly under control and I didn't think I'd slip this much again. As for working environments I won't be on placement anywhere again until September but I know that the longer I leave this the worse it's going to get and by then I might not be able to hide it...I'm just not sure that I wan't to go back to having to talk to a person face to face every week. On here it's easier because you don't have to be worried about how people react.
"Some things you can't go back to 'cause you let them slip away" - Little Big Town
Yes definately worth a try, it's all confidential unless you disclose harm to self, harm to others, crime etc that means the counsellor needs to report this but they would do that with your consent.
Is that just serious life threatening kinda harm that they have to report because cutting is harm to self and I don't know where the line is...not trying to be annoying I'm just really scared of people finding out.
"Some things you can't go back to 'cause you let them slip away" - Little Big Town
Hi Moose, that is why I was saying to ask the question first. I think it has to do with being a danger to self or others in terms of suicidal, but try to look at it as getting help. You have a lot of understandable anxiety about disclosing to a counsellor, but at least on a face- to- face basis help is more real time and specific.
~Happy tomatoes together we will be~
You say toe- may- toe, I say toe- mah- toe:
Let's call the whole thing- red
“It’s time to lead the third revolution, which is not to say we want to be at the top of the world, but to say we want to change the world. Because the way the world has been designed by men is not working. It’s not working for women, it’s not working for men,
it’s not working for polar bears.” Arianna Huffington 2014
