Depression/ Self Harm Help

How to tell someone you self harm

This is probably one of the biggest fears anyone who self harms deals with. You want to tell someone, but you don't know how. Whether you want to tell a friend, parent, teacher, guidance counselor at school, or a sibling.

So at school, some of my teachers found out that I cut and they told the guidance counselor. My guidance counselor called me down and asked me questions like "What do you use?" "Why did you start?" "When did you start?" "How did you get this idea?" So after a couple of weeks of going to her office for counseling, she told me that she thought it was time I told my parents. As soon as she said that, tears filled my eyes. There was NO way I was going to tell my parents. But I had a choice. Either she could tell them for me, or I could do it myself. I decided to tell them myself. Here is how I did it.

When I got home from school that day, I went into my room, got a piece of paper, and wrote my mom a note. Here is what I wrote:

"Mom,
There is something that I need to tell you that I've been too afraid to tell you. In November, I started cutting- but I stopped. I don't do it anymore. My guidance counselor at school talked to me about it, because she somehow found out. It WAS my way of coping with how I really felt. I haven't done it for almost a month. I don't struggle with it anymore. I don't really want to talk about it now. I will when I'm ready. I know it's a lot to take in, so that way you can have time too. Keep this between me and you, please."

So when my mom got home from work, I put the note on her bed and I literally RAN OUT THE DOOR. I went to my friends house and sat with her for a few minutes. I was too afraid to be home when my mom read it.

After about 10 minutes, I walked home. I went upstairs and went to my room. My mom came in and she was crying. She kind of yelled at me, but we did hug. After that, we haven't talked about it since. I try to forget about this day, since it was pretty hard for me.

The next day at school, I told my guidance counselor and she said that she was proud of me.

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same thing."