I wrote about my brother last time. I told him that if he ever needed to talk, I would be here for him. He kind of scoffed at me saying that he has nothing to talk about with a girl. However, dad went to check in on him the other night and found him passed out on the floor. He was going into shock from blood loss. It turns out that he had been cutting for almost a year now without getting caught. He got caught because the tool he used to cut himself had cut him too deep. I feel guilty because as his older sister, I should’ve seen this coming and I didn’t. He is now getting the help he needs along with talking with our parents. Dad doesn’t want me or my siblings making a big deal about the issue. He says that we should treat our brother like normal to make him feel good. Is this okay? I feel like I should watch over him more closely so that he doesn’t try this again.
CONSIDER THIS:
- Thanks for writing in about such an important issue. Try not to feel guilty because you are his sister. Instead you should be proud that you are being there for him and are reaching out for some help!
- Perhaps you could try including your brother in some activities that you do or join with him on some that he likes.
- You could try setting up an activity for the whole family to spend time together.
- Maybe you can generate some discussions with your brother on topics that he likes to talk about.
- Try referring to Teen Central’s Website and under the Learn Tab check out the Self Injury Page.
HELP YOURSELF:
- What types of discussions could you have with your brother?
- What types of fun activities could you guys do?
- What are some things your brother enjoys?
- If you were going through something would you want to be treated like nothing is wrong?
