I need some advice please....

I'm 17 and I used to cut myself.
My therapist at the time found out and told my mom to take me to the emergency room.
That was a horrible, horrible, experience.
Every staff member who I had to tell looked at me like I was completely looney, which didn't help how I was feeling.
Then, they put me in a little room in the 'mental ward' area (my room was next to a man who was tied down and screaming, even drugs didn't make him stop).
My mom and I were there from about 8:00 PM-1:00 AM.
I told them it was not a suicide attempt, it really wasn't.
They put down that it was anyway.
They were going to send me too a facility for four+ days, but I was crying so much that they let us leave.
That was a horrific experience....how do they think that keeping someone locked in a room with a camera would help?!

Anyway, I've recently started burning myself.
I'm terrified to tell anyone, because of the above experience, but I don't want to keep doing it; I need to express my feelings in a positive way.

So, to anyone who can relate, should I try to tell someone again?
I really don't know what to do....

Thanks for any advice.

pagirl, Are you seeing a different therapist now, or the same one?

That is ridiculous that your T told your mom to take you to the er... When I told my t about cutting, legally, she had to tell my mom, but she made sure that mom knew that I was not in any huge danger, and hospitilization was not necessary.

Getting help is SO worth it! Despite my fear, telling my T about SI was one of the best things that I've ever done. If you're seeing a different T, I would ask her in a hypothetical situation what she would have to do. If it's the same one as before, honestly, I'd find a new T.

I hope everything works out! If you ever need to talk, I'm always here.

DEFINITELY ask for help!

But only if you're seeing a better therapist who actually may know something about self-injury. I'm sorry you had to go through that!!

Burning as a form of SI is really dangerous and bad, better to seek help now than to wait until it gets worse.

Try to take care of yourself.

(((((((pagirl123)))))))

I am very sad for you. To stop cutting and start burning YEARS later must be so horrible.

But let's get straight to the point. Are you seeing the same T? If you are I recommened finding a new one and when you get to know him/her, tell the T that you have started burning and explain WHY you do it. Burning is obviously seen as less of a suicide attempt.

It still confuses me why a T would think you're trying to commit suicide just because you're cutting. I did an extremely deep cut on my arm the other day - it needed stitches (according to MY t) and im still at home. Didn't have to go to the emergency room or anything.

However. No matter what you do you should probably tell a T or someone about the self harm. It's important for the adjustment of your therapy (if any) and perhaps medication.

Good Luck Hun x