Posted by paulb on May 1, 2002, at 16:21:59
In reply to Any cutters??? Please help my 12yr old, posted by cmcdougall on May 1, 2002, at 13:10:09
Im very sorry and saddened to hear about your twelve year old stepdaughter.
I will try and answer your questions to the best of my ability.
I never made a habit of cutting but I am sado-masochistic. This started when I was nineteen. The triggering incident was psychological. Because I had suffered from depression I felt ashamed and that life had to be painful.
Ive got a sliced wrist and a long cut on my arm. My sneakiest way of hiding it is by wearing a watch and no t-shirts
Depression would compel me to cut my wrists to kill myself but as I mentioned above I feel life has to be pain. Im a "no pain, no gain" type person
Im not really into cutting. I take cold showers, hit walls etc so I dont have a favourate part of the body to cut.
In hindsight what could have someone done to help me. Thats a difficult one. When I say to a friend I feel like killing myself they dont actually stop me. They say mind how you go?? With a twelve year old its different I would assume. Keep an eye out for knifes going missing, low moods, withdrawal from social activity, counselling, drug therapy. I have a friend who self-harms and the psychiatrist prescribed him Risperidone which is an atypical antipsychotic in addition to his antidepressant because it is supposed to be helpful for people who self-harm.
I would see a specialist because I would guess there are specialists who know specifically about self-harm and its treatment. A book called "Prozac Nation" is about a girl with depression who cuts herself. Your story reminded of that book. You may want to read it.
I really hope things work out.
PaulB
poster:paulb
thread:22955
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020430/msgs/22960.html