Triggering: i told my parents.

[katiehiya]

I've been self harming for, about 4-5 months (just over one week clean.) and i told my parents, I told them the day before about my nightmares and how I was feeling. The next day I told them I was cutting, they both reacted like any other parent would, but they're getting me help and I've been to the doctors.

But the feeling is still there.. I thought if I told them I wouldn't want to harm myself anymore, but I still do. I promised them I wouldn't do it anymore, but the urge is becoming stronger than it's ever been before, does anyone have any methods I could try?

[Raggedy Man, Goodnight!]

You were really brave to tell your parents that you have been harming yourself, well done

It is good that they are getting you help, the urges won't just go away but it will get better.

PM me if you ever need to talk.

[random.swirls]

Hello,

Well done that is really brave of you to tell your parents I know it must have been hard and it's good that they are getting you help. What I find helps is distracting myself when I get urges. Here is a link for a list of distractions http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f12-s...ves-self-harm/
Feel free to PM me anytime you want.

Love from Meera

[Theaweseomrguy]

Have you tried putting a rubber band of a elastic band around your wrist and every time you feel the urge to sleep harm you flick the rubber band. Also you could try maybe talking to a school counselor I know it's scary but they can help a lot and remember everything your parents do right now is just them trying to help they are probably scared to hear that you have been self harming and most likely are trying to figure out what they did "wrong". If you need to talk or vent I am here for you just Pm or vm me.

[snowdrop]

You are so brave to tell your parents I could never do that.
But if you wanna stop try putting a rubber band or drawing or going for a walk. Get all sharp objects away from you and just keep busy. If you wanna talk I'm here

[Paint]

First of all, I want to say that despite me not knowing you, I am so incredibly proud of you for telling your parents. That is super brave of you and I'm sure that this post has probably given some people some inspiration.

Second of all, I think that your urge to cut is still "normal" in the sense that I wouldn't have expected it to go away after telling your parents. The good thing, though, is that now your parents can get you help to cope in better ways. Please don't be hard on yourself for having the urge to cut; relapse can be a sign of recovery, and you'll likely have days even after recovery where you want to resort to hurting yourself. Forgive yourself if you do.

You've already been linked with the alternatives so I suggest browsing that! Otherwise, until your parents do get you help/until an appointment is made (and I mean, even after), I think you should try to find a hobby that you're really passionate about and focus on that. Sometimes people have found art helpful when wanting to self-harm; drawing harsh lines on paper sometimes helps release emotions. You should think about getting a Wreck This Journal book. The purpose of that book is to destroy it and essentially take your emotions out artfully. It's helped me out.

If you ever want to talk to someone, you can always PM/VM me. Stay strong; you're so, so brave! Thank you for sharing with us that you talked to your parents. And thank you for taking the brave step in doing so. I'm praying for you and your situation!

God bless & much love,
Misty

[fallingstargirl]

Hey,

First off, it's amazing that you told your parents. That kind of thing is really hard to do, and it's a great step towards recovering, but it's not going to suddenly make you stop wanting to self harm. Recovery is a long process, and no single action is going to make you suddenly stop. Since your parents are getting you help, the urges should start to gradually go away, but it will take a while and it won't be easy.

Definitely look at the list of alternatives someone linked above (here it is again: http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f12-s...ves-self-harm/). Try out different things from the list, and don't stop using it if one or two of the alternatives don't work - there's plenty more to try.

I hope you're okay, shoot me a message if you ever need anything or want to talk
~Estelle

[katiehiya]

Hi everyone, oh my goodness I'm so surprised but the amount of support on this website, it's so uplifting seeing all of you coming together.

I've seen a councilor and I'm going to start seeing her every week, I feel like poo afterward but I know it's for the best. I'm going to look at all of your methods and see which one fits me best, just really, thank you all so much I've never seen anything so amazing, all of you are awesome, thanks!