Hi

I’m suffering from pretty severe anxiety and depression, I haven’t been diagnosed but I’m not an idiot. I also have been self harming for about 2 years. I want to tell someone what’s going on but I just can’t. I want help but as soon as I’m going to ask my anxiety kicks in and I spiral for a bit. I’m also remembering so not so great memories from my past that I obviously purposely forgot about until know and it’s all I can think about. I need some help.

[Jjlinx]

Hi Daisy, I’m sorry to hear you’re going through a horrible time, I’ve suffered lots with anxiety & depression myself but well done for coming on here & sharing cos I know it’s not easy. Have you tried talking to the Samaritans or a similar helpline? That could be a good next step.

My advice would be to research self help tips for the conditions & there should be some in there you find helpful even if you have to sift through a load that don’t feel helpful for you first! Also think about who you want to reach out to the most, perhaps you could try putting it into a text or email to them if you don’t feel ready to talk face to face? My experience is it’s amazing how understanding people are even if they’ve not been through anything similar but also how many people can relate to some of the problems. You don’t have to go all in straight away, you could just start with saying you’re struggling & going through a really low patch to start with maybe & go from there? Tell them how hard you find it to talk about as well.

I remember when I first told my mum I was self harming, it was awful but it needed to be done & it did help me to stop. We went to the doctor together. This may sound odd but just putting an elastic band around your wrist & pinging it against your wrist when you feel the need to hurt yourself can help to distract you. Try your best to find distraction techniques that work for you because it’s not nice having to live with the scars afterward.

I hope this helps a bit, I promise you’re not alone & there is lots of help out there

[Hidden in reply to Jjlinx]

Thank you, I want to tell my mom but I’m scared of her response. Intellectually I know it won’t be an angry response but that’s what it always feels like it will be.

[MAS_Nurse]

Hello Daisy2001 and welcome to the community. As Jjlinx has said it was a very good first step to talk to us here and the suggestions in his message are also very good and hopefully you will find them useful.

Have a look around the site and in particular the free guides in the pinned posts where you will find a lot of information on anxiety and self harm. The direct link is

shawmindfoundation.org/free...

Please keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on.