I feel like I’m self harming, but I’m not sure
I keep doing things that might ruin me and my future, but I’m more terrified of not doing that thing than I am concerned about my future because if I don’t do it, I’ll cut myself. I’m so scared of what the future holds. I don’t know what’s wrong with me
Help Yourself:
- Being a teenager and growing into an adult can be a very scary and confusing process. There are a lot of new emotions, thoughts, and feelings happening while we are trying to just simply keep up with what needs to be done in the right now. All of this can be quite overwhelming. These are all just some of the reason why TeenCentral is here. Thank you so much for reaching out to TeenCentral. Here we can help guide you through these confusing times. Congratulations on step 1!
- Like stated above, being a teen is a very tough time in our lives. Take a moment to sit back and think about the support you have in your life. Do you have any parents, aunts/uncles, siblings, friends, or cousins that you feel comfortable enough with that you could talk to them about all of this? You would be surprised at the advice and guidance that can be given when asked.
- Do you know your guidance counselor at school? Guidance counselors are fantastic for helping us talk through these times and develop our own plan to help guide us on the right path. If you aren’t too familiar with your counselor, I suggest you seek them out and have a conversation.
Consider this:
- The fact that you are picking up on this behavior is amazing. Many people don’t realize this until much later in life (if they ever do at all). Perhaps start keeping a journal that you can write in throughout the day or before bed. In this journal write about your day and the instances where you believe this may have happened. Remember these actions and learn from them. Catch these actions and thoughts in the moment and come up with a plan of what to do when they happen. This can help you catch the moment and change the behavior.
- If you go to our homepage and navigate to our Learn and Tools tabs, you will find all kinds of activities and information. Some of these are; Self-Injury, Making Hard Decisions, Support Plan, Daily Task Chart, Weekly Mood Tracker, Daily Positive Reminder, Daily Schedule, and a list of Yoga activities along with a Yoga Journal.
- What are things that interest you? A lot of teens (and even adults) experience immense stress and pressure revolving around that dreaded question, “What do you want to do when you grow up/graduate?” Perhaps instead of trying to focus and pick just one thing, how about highlighting your interests and making them hobbies/coping skills. This can greatly help in focusing and calming the mind and emotions, busying you during idle time, and guide you to your passions.
- Remember the beginning statement, these are very tough and confusing times. But don’t worry, you are not alone in this. You would be surprised at the growing numbers of teens that are feeling and experiencing very similar situations. Ask you counselor for any clubs or groups for teens where you can interact with others experiencing similar situations. You can also browse through the What’s New section from our homepage. Here are numerous blogs covering many topics. I sometimes finding myself reading them when I feel like I could use some calm and clarity.
