How to tell my parents?
 

Well, I haven't self harmed in a couple months and I think it's safe to say that I'm done. So to reward myself for being able to stop, I was planning on getting a tattoo on my wrist that symbolizes recovery from self harm. Normally I wouldn't worry about people asking about it. I would just tell them my story, but since it's gonna be on my wrist my parents are most likely going to ask about it. I'm 18 and still living at home (for now, until college starts) and I don't want to try super hard to hide it. How do I tell them that I used to self harm? I know that they'll be upset, but I'm not worried about that because I know that they'll still love me as I am. What I'm worried about is that they'll think that it's their fault even thought it wasn't. How do I bring it up without them blaming themselves? Thanks for any responses :D

Re: How to tell my parents?
 

Ok, Im not sure if this will help, but this is my experience.
When I SHed back in the day, my parents noticed the scars. They were all over my right hand and relatively visible. The problem is, when they noticed, they were enraged. Threatened me to leave me in a mental hospital because they didnt raise a psycho and threatning to send me away to another family. They took the blades and got me grounded for a month for both PC and going out. Then my sister found out and nearly "disbrothered me". She said if I continue she will stop talking to me (not that we talked before that really) and that she will tell all of my friends what I did so they hate me too. Thats when the connection with my family broke. Now were just strangers living in the same house.
But yeah... xD If i could i could go back and not SH or do SOMETHING to prevent them seeing the scars but fuck it life is a bitch...
So yeah... XD My parents are usually somewhat supportive but when they saw the scars all hell broke loose.
If you think your parents are supportive go ahead. If you dont... Agh, I wouldnt recommend it. I wouldnt want anyone to have the shit i had and for it to affect them...

Re: How to tell my parents?
 

Hi there, and :welcome: to TH!

It's good that you were able to stop self-harming and I'm glad that you want to tell your parents! Parents tend to have a spur of the moment reaction sometimes, but it is better if it comes from you rather than someone else. Keep in mind that your parents won't be angry at you, but angry at the situation that you were in as you're their child and they don't want to see you in such pain. They'll probably need some time to think after you tell them about this. You can tell them in person by saying something as, "My tattoo symbolizes the recovery of something I've been through" and go from there. You could also start out with the smaller stuff and work your way up to self-harm. If you're uncomfortable talking to them face to face, you have the option of writing a note or typing up an email so you can collect all of the thoughts that you want to include. Lastly, it might help if you print off some information about self-harm so your parents can educate themselves.

Re: How to tell my parents?
 

Thats some pretty helpfull stuff. Why the hell didnt I do that? I just told them that i SHed without any reason when they saw the scars and almost got thrown out of the house (literally) >.<

Yeah OP, get some literature and a tattoo deisgn and stuff so they see you gave a lot of thought to it... ;)

Re: How to tell my parents?