Hi there
Thanks so much for writing to me and letting me know how you are. It seems like you have so much going on in your life right now, and you sound like you’re struggling to know what to do next.
You’ve talked about quite a few things in your letter. You said that you have struggled with being bullied in the past (although it sounds like that has been sorted out now), and that home is a tough place for you to be at the moment because of your parents. From what you’ve said it sounds like you cut yourself to cope with these difficult things that are going on in your life. It seems like you don’t want anyone to know that you hurt yourself and it sounds like you’re really worried that the teacher at school might find out about your self-harm and talk to your parents.
You haven’t said what home is like for you except to say that it’s difficult. But it sounds like home might be a lonely place for you to be. You have so much happening for you right now that I’m wondering if it would be helpful for you to talk your feelings through more fully with someone who could listen to you and support you?
One of the ways that you could do that is to get in touch with ChildLine. ChildLine is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. A ChildlIne counsellor could help you to talk about each thing that’s happening for you, and to think about your options and about how you could try to improve things. You could have a 1-2-1 online chat with a counsellor, or you could send them an email. Or if you prefer, you could phone them for free on 0800 1111. It’s up to you how you get in touch, and how many times you get in touch. It might be that you need to talk with them more than once so that you have time to think about everything, and that would be OK too.
Another section of the ChildLine website that you might find useful, is the section that talks about self-harm. Have a look at the information and see what you think about it. You might also like to take a look at the Self-harm message board to see what other young people say about coping with their feelings, or about what it’s like when things are tough at home - sometimes this can be a helpful way to know that you’re not alone.
Take care,
Sam