I really, really cannot see how you would write off self-harming as simply having "unrefined coping skills". I think that self-harm HAS to be taken seriously.

Or were you being facetious, writing off self-harm as unrefined skills, suicidality as PMS, etc.? If you were trying to be funny, yes, it is funny - what you wrote is funny - but if you were being serious, then, paradoxically, you are not treating your symptoms seriously enough.

What's with "OD'd twice" whatever never mind just stupid business? OD'ing once is a cause for concern, and OD'ing twice looks like a pattern in the making. No, it is not just normal adolescent angst and impulsivity - there is more to it. And yes, it you started Lithium 4-6 weeks ago, now would be the time for it to kick in, so if you feel fine now, it is, as Tuscon says, proof of Lithium's working and not proof of your having snapped out of it. Think it through - you have been self-harming since 16, right? It has been over 5 years. You have not snapped out of it. Is it purely coincidental that you'd "snap out of it" exactly 4-6 weeks after starting Lithium? What an interesting coincidence it is...