I did grow up with both parents. My father was in jail and my mom left time and time again. At age 3, I hated myself so much I tore apart my skin. I hate myself so much I wanted to die. Not much changed. Right now I’m 12. My mom yells and hits me and my dad is out of prison, but he doesn’t like to see me, his one and only mistake.
HELP YOURSELF
- When we are dealing with stressful situations at home and we do not always have the support of our parents, it is easy to feel like we need to manage everything on our own. Thank you for being so brave and sharing your story with the TeenCentral community.
- Please remember that if you are ever feeling in danger, you should call 911 to receive immediate assistance. Even if you are not in an emergency situation, there are still plenty of times when reaching out for support can help us to get through the tough situations in our lives. You can always call 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) to contact the Child Help USA National Hotline or you can text “HELLO” to 741741 to start a conversation with somebody from the Crisis Textline. Even during our hardest moments, there are so many people who are always ready and willing to help!
- Even though your parents may not always be there to offer you support, it is so important to remember that we are never alone! When things are tough in our lives and we start to become upset with ourselves or our situations, it can be really helpful to share our thoughts and feelings with somebody else. Do you have any older relatives, an adult at school, or a family friend who could listen to you as you open up about what is happening in your life? Try to find those people who care about you and speak up to ask for help whenever you are feeling upset or down.
CONSIDER THIS
- It sounds like there have been times in your life when you do not think very positively about yourself. Have these feelings ever been so strong that you may not even understand why you are doing certain things that may be unsafe? The good thing is that you can learn more about these feelings and behaviors, what is really causing them, and most importantly, how to get help to manage them! Try checking out the Learn Tab on TeenCentral.com to find some great information and useful resources about Self Injury and Suicide.
- Whenever we are feeling down or thinking negative thoughts about ourselves, there are so many things that we can do to feel better. Have you ever heard about coping skills? These are different actions that we can take to respond to any stresses in our lives. Everyone has different coping skills, but they are usually the things in life that make you happy or the activities that you enjoy doing. Oftentimes, whenever we start to feel down or upset, we can use our healthy coping skills to become a little less stressed and maybe a little more positive about whatever is happening in our lives. You can find more information about coping skills on pages 8, 11, and 12 of the downloadable workbook on Depression located on the Tools Page of TeenCentral.com.
- Sometimes when we start having negative thoughts about ourselves, we can forget about all the things we can do to make ourselves feel better. To make sure this does not happen, it is very useful to have a plan ready to go, so that we really do not even have to think about how we are going to get help. On the Tools Page of TeenCentral.com, there is a Support Plan that you can use to map out what steps you can take whenever you start feeling down. Once you have your support plan prepared, you can even share this with the people closest to you, so that they know what they can do to help you best. We are strong, but we can be even stronger, when we are TOGETHER!
