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Self harm awareness day: Experts online from 9-10pm to answer your questions
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
:wave: If this is your first time on TheSite, then welcome! 
Saturday 1st March is Self Harm Awareness Day and YouthNet (the charity behind TheSite) has been sharing blogs in the build up all week from young people and experts talking about their experiences related to self harm.
At 9pm on SUNDAY 2nd March Radio One's Sunday Surgery will be talking about self-harm. To tie in with the show two experts will be on hand here on TheSite message boards to respond with advice and information for those looking for help in relation to coping tips and distractions techniques.
We also really encourage you all to chip into the discussion with your own thoughts, ideas and support and get involved. Myself and **helen** will be around too helping out
Our experts are:
Shaun from selfharm.co.uk
And
Lindsey from Childline
Things you need to know:
We'll open up this thread ready for the show on Sunday afternoon and the conversation and responses will all take place here.
Look forward to your questions and replies and don't forget to tune in to the show too
Saturday 1st March is Self Harm Awareness Day and YouthNet (the charity behind TheSite) has been sharing blogs in the build up all week from young people and experts talking about their experiences related to self harm.
At 9pm on SUNDAY 2nd March Radio One's Sunday Surgery will be talking about self-harm. To tie in with the show two experts will be on hand here on TheSite message boards to respond with advice and information for those looking for help in relation to coping tips and distractions techniques.
We also really encourage you all to chip into the discussion with your own thoughts, ideas and support and get involved. Myself and **helen** will be around too helping out
Our experts are:
Shaun from selfharm.co.uk
After working on a variety of youth and web based projects, Shaun joined selfharm.co.uk where he?s able to merge his love for working with young people and the web. Over the short time Shaun has been at selfharm.co.uk, He?s been able to develop an online support group called Alumina. Alumina is a great way of giving young people the opportunity to gain an understanding of how they found themselves self-harming; the possible causes, and most of all exploring more positive ways they can deal with their emotions and challenging situations. Shaun also lives in Luton, where he lives with his wife.
And
Lindsey from Childline
Lindsey is 30 years old and she's been a Childline counsellor for 4 and half years. Her role involves helping young people with a range of issues including self harm. She does this on the phone, online on instant messenger chats and through email.
Things you need to know:
- Posts looking for help with issues other than coping tips and distractions will be moved into the main health & wellbeing forum. You will still be able to get support from the community and other mods there, your question just probably won't be answered by the experts.
- If you are a regular and want to ask a question privately, then feel free to private message me and I can post it on your behalf.
- The usual forum rules apply, but you may also find it helpful to watch our video on posting about self-harm specifically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4mhn1lokMgWe'll open up this thread ready for the show on Sunday afternoon and the conversation and responses will all take place here.
Look forward to your questions and replies and don't forget to tune in to the show too
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Comments
I'm 15 and trying to get better but now I am not self harming if get thoughts which are worst how can I cope with it without telling anyone
on this thread
Hey Annaarrr, thanks for posting, Shaun is just typing his reply to you now
Could you maybe give her some links to like online things, like childline, and also thesite. That way it's less daunting and you could also be there with her if she needed that while she is looking for support online? I guess having her confide in an adult is practical but I can understand how difficult it is for her.
" So I say thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing, thanks for all the joy they're bringing, who can live without it, I ask in all honestly what would life be? Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me "
'' It's a beautiful day and I can't stop myself from smiling "
Hey Bailey - welcome to TheSite.org
Lindsey is just working on her response to your question now - you might find our section here on TheSite about selfharm a useful source of info to take a look at as well: http://www.thesite.org/mental-health/self-harm
Hey e1998, thanks for posting. One of our experts will reply in a bit, just just wanted to let you know you have every right to feel upset and it's great your reaching out to us here.
Also I have some very deep cuts and I think I need stitches what should I do and in the summer I don't know how to hide my deep scars please help
Just keep refreshing the thread and your answer will be on its way soon!
Hi Becky, thanks for posting, have you spoken to anyone about this before now?
Hi, my names Laura and I'm 19.
I have struggled with subconsciously self harming since I was 10.
I'd find myself doing this at school after being bullied and eventually I was found bleeding by teachers when I was 13 and my parents were clued in.
I was put on Prozac at 13 and now am on sertraline after trying to take my life two years ago.
A little back ground information. I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome at 9 with my brother and my mum after my mum suffered a brain haemorrhage (to then be followed by several strokes and heart attacks)
My bullying was mainly due to my illnesses and post traumatic stress from seeing my mum going through these things.
Back to my question:
My dad and teachers try to understand that my self harm isn't able to be calmed by medication or therapy as it's subconscious but they don't understand why I'm not aware of my actions as I'm doing them. How could I explain this to them? That I'm not trying to get attention and that I don't fully know why I'm doing what I'm doing?
It's been an issue for 9 years and I can't get my head around it myself so why should I expect them to understand.
If you could give me some advice I'd be incredibly grateful.
Stopping harming permanently isn't a over night thing and it takes a lot of work.. It depends on the person, but having lots of support in place is a start, and also having lots of distractions to help you when you feel the urges to harm yourself. Defiantly having support and talking about things helps. Finding something to replace your harming I guess.
" So I say thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing, thanks for all the joy they're bringing, who can live without it, I ask in all honestly what would life be? Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me "
'' It's a beautiful day and I can't stop myself from smiling "
I've been self harming for a few months now and it feels like an addiction. I want to stop but I just can't and I don't want to tell anyone about it because I have been bullied for years and it has only (mostly) stopped now that I am in full-time work. It started when I had a miscarriage from a one night stand. I don't know where to turn and I'm afraid to see a Doctor for fear of them judging me and trying to pop me full of pills to "cure" me...
Hey Annaarrr,
Thanks for writing. Helping someone who's struggling with self-harm can be really difficult.
The best bit of advice I can give to you is to simply listen to them. Ask them how you can support them and i'd also suggest that you take care of yourself. It's ok to say that you don't know how to help. It might be that talking to an adult might be the best solution but maybe you can highlight some great places to go that will help your friend where they can speak to some great adults that can really help.
Hope that helps Annaarrr.
Hi Bailey98, Thank you for your post. It can be difficult to tell someone one specific way on how to stop self-harming, different people can find different things help them to cope without self-harming. Some find doing exercise can help, others writing down or drawing how they feel, or distraction techniques like listening to music, playing an instrument, playing computer games useful. But what might be really important is talking to someone about what is going on and how you're feeling to help get some support with what's making you feel like this in the first place. Changing or find ways to cope with that, can maybe help to make a more permanent difference.
Hi Cocopops, it can be really daunting to tell someone, so reaching out here is really brave, have you ever tried chatting to someone online 1-2-1 via childline?