What should I do?

[lonely16]

I'm getting my flu shot on Sunday. They give the shot on the non-dominant hand which is my left one. Problem is that I have a line of about 22 surface cuts on my upper arm. (This has not been a problem until now because my school uniform has long sleeves.)
What should I do? I don't want nurse to notice and say anything...
My parents know about my self-harm but they have never seen anything so they'd probably freak out.

I don't think the nurse administering your flu shot will tell your parents but they might ask you a question or two. I think it'll probably be more along the lines "are you being abused? are you safe" because they might be legally obligated to ask; but if these cuts are superficial, they probably won't even ask. It's common for people to have superficial scratches and they're not always associated with self-harm.

[lonely16]

thanks! It's like 22 linear cuts all in a neat little row- looks pretty obvs. problem is the clinic i go to does pediatric flu shots (i'm 16) for 1 family all in 1 room- so all my sibs and my mom will be in the room w/ me and they'll see...

[Arabesque- golfing girl.]

Hello,

When we self harm and other people find out what we have been doing, it can be hard to be okay with this. Everyone self harms for different reasons and we feel that when we have our parents or siblings or friends or someone else find out when we are not ready to talk about it, this can be hard. Try to stay calm when they see your arm and start asking you questions. Also if you would like to try talking with them about it, then try that. Or if you want to talk about this later then ask if you can when you get home. I hope you will be okay soon and everything works out for you.