It’s been almost a year since my first post (about my mom saying she’s done). I just re-read it and I haven’t gotten so many tears in my eyes from a digital piece of text. Life has gotten much more stressful. I’ve found better ways to cope with the thoughts and stress now tho. I use a red marker and draw cuts on my arms and legs instead of real cutting. I sometimes draw out my stress too. I will draw violent cartoon gore. My school is now more supporting of my stress too, so good, and my sister has gotten better about the feet thing! Only thing that’s worse is the thoughts and stress. Happy birthday, first post!
Following Up
- Thank you so much for reaching out and letting us know about the progress you’ve been making! And Happy Birthday as well to the first time you reached out to use for help- good for you!
- It sounds like you’ve been making progress on finding safer ways to express your difficult thoughts and stressful feelings- good for you. Great job on realizing how important you are to yourself and those around you.
- It does sound like you are still struggling with some of your negative thoughts and feelings. Have you been talking/ are you still talking to someone professionally about this? If not, it’s something you should consider. Having a counselor or a therapist is not only useful during those times that you’re really struggling, but they can help you maintain the progress that you have made so far.
- It’s good to hear that your school is being so supportive as well. Do you have someone in your school that you reach out to when you have difficulties there?
Keep It Up
- Make sure that while you may still be struggling, you take the time to continue to recognize the progress you’ve made so far. It’s very easy on a down day to lose sight of that and focus only on the negative. The negative feelings are still there and will continue to need your attention, but remembering what you’ve overcome so far is what will motivate you to keep moving toward your goals.
- If your feelings become overwhelming, don’t forget to reach out to someone for help. If it is an extreme, immediate issue, call the authorities or go to an emergency room right away. If not, you can also use the crisis textline to reach out
Crisis Textline
Available 24/7
Support to all individuals in crisis
Text “HELLO” to 741741
www.crisistextline.org
- Keep using those coping skills that have been working for you so far. Make sure you readily know what they are and when/where they are available. You may want to try a few more to add to your toolbox. The more, the better! Again, congratulations on your progress!
