I was in PE the other day with fresh cuts, i walked out because the teacher was already talking to the class before i was about to walk into the gym. My friend then found me half way through the lesson and managed to get me to go back to the class. When i was back i didnt go into the gym, and the teacher came out to me and asked why i didnt go in. i burst into tears and she knew instatntly what had happened. Later that day i was in Media when my head of year came in and asked to speak to me. He told me that he knew and he had honed my mum, that happened on a friday. its sunday and i still havent told anyone why. Is it wise to not tell why and let people accept that its happened? or should i tell?
Sam
Hi there,
Talking about self-harm isnt easy and it can take a lot of bravery to be honest about this.
If people notice your cuts, this can lead to questions or people wanting to talk to you about whats happening and how you feel. Usually when people notice and want to talk to you about this, it means they care about you and want to help.
Sometimes it can feel easier to bottle things up and try to cope by yourself, but that isnt something that can work long term. Everyone needs support sometimes to help things change and get better. Talking about self-harm can be really difficult, but its a really good way of getting support.
Its okay if you dont want to go into detail with everyone that asks about it like people you dont know that well, for example. If there are people you dont want to share this with, it can help to be prepared with ways of politely saying you wont talk about it and that its personal.
It seems like some of your teachers and your mum know about the cuts, but they dont know what else is going on for you. People self-harm for many different reasons. This can be difficult for other people to understand sometimes, especially when they dont know whats going on in that persons life. Its important that you get the opportunity to talk about this and let people know what kind of support youd like.
You might find it helpful to write down the things that feel important to you to help you feel prepared to talk about this. Maybe this could be things like how you feel when you cut, and what was going on for you when this first started happening. This might be something you feel able to talk to your mum about, or you may prefer to talk to someone at school like a teacher first.
Remember, how you feel and your safety is really important.
Take care, Sam
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