Hi there,
You’ve done really well to let me know what you’re going through and I’m so glad you’ve got in touch. You’ve been self-harming for a few years now and it’s an expression of how you feel about your body. If you’re trying to stop self-harming, it can be a really good idea to look at ways to distract yourself when you feel like you want to do it. There is lots of information about self harm in Explore.
I’m very concerned to hear that you’ve been feeling suicidal and you can always ring ChildLine whenever you want to talk. It’s definitely OK to call about your suicidal feelings as well as everything else that you’re going through. The counsellors will want to be there to support you in whatever ways they can.
You’ve mentioned taking overdoses in the past and I’d really recommend getting some medical advice because even when you feel OK, you can never be sure what the effect has been on your body. How would you feel about speaking to a doctor about this? Doctors can also help when people want to stop self-harming too and it might be helpful to speak to them about the feelings of anxiety, panic and depression that you’re going through as well.
It seems like there might be a few things that you’d like to talk through. How would you feel about getting in touch with a ChildLine counsellor? When you’re going through lots of different things all at once, sometimes it’s difficult to know where to begin talking and it can help to decide which thing you’d like to talk about first and take it from there. You can call ChildLine on 0800 1111 (calls are free) or have a 1-2-1 chat which is a bit like MSN.
It’s really good that you’ve felt able to share how you feel and please remember that there are people who can help and you don’t have to go through this on your own.
Take care,
Sam