[damajdancer]

i havent cut in about 6 months. but i had cut for about 2 years. i have these two friends who were and still are extremely supportive with me in this subject. the other day i saw cuts on the top of one friends wrist. immediatly i asked where she got them. she looked sad and said that she had done it. i froze right there. she was the one who always told me that it didnt matter how bad everything got, i could always go to her and she would listen. she was very soft and compasionate about it. then she gave me a look and said i should go talk to my other friend. my other friend was always more agressive toward me when it came to cutting. she would say that she didnt understand how someone could hurt themselves that badly on purpose. and she had cuts on her legs and on top of her arms. they both told me that they were being smart about it because they didnt cut on the inside of their arms. i told them that i started cutting on the tops of my arms...then when i got addicted to hurting myself, i moved to the insides of my arms. and it can get dangerous with out them even becoming aware of it. and i dont even know what im supposed to say to them. im so scared for them. i know how hard it is to go through all this. but then again im mad at them because they both watched me suffer from myself. they saw me get dragged off to the mental hospital three times for cutting. and im mad at myself because they were always there for me and now i dont know how to be there for them.
what am i supposed to do to help them????

[ickydog2006]

(((((((hugs)))))))

I wish I had more advice to give. All I can say is be there to l isten if they need it, or if you arn't capable of giving them much support due to triggers give them references to people who have helped you. You could give them helpful sites with suggestions of other coping skills. Mainly you know the truth, chances are they won't quit or seriously try to until they are scared of cutting/themselves. And even then, once it gets that far, they will have to be completely determined that they want to quit more than almost anything else. That is one of the hardest things about SI, you don't try to quit until your so far down that it is almost imppossible.

I wish you the best of luck and please try to keep yourself safe. It is really easy to let ourselves be triggered in our attempts to help others.