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What to say to someone who tells you they are cutting

how to help a friend who is cutting

“Can we go together to tell a trusted adult?”

“When did it all start?”

“How can I help?”

“Tell me more.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“How do you feel about this?”

You want to know how you can help a friend who is cutting. When someone tells you they are cutting, which is also called non-suicidal self-injury, they are struggling and probably want someone to listen.  (There are resources below.)

I want you to know, however, that you only have to listen long enough to recognize there is a problem.

Connect with the pain first

In other words, you don’t Read more...

My First Tattoo. Covers my Scars, but Not my Journey

By Tammy Ozolins

Late one night I came home depressed. Living with Bipolar is difficult enough, but the depression was getting the best of me. So, I decided I had enough and I took a handful of my mom’s sleeping pills and was excited to be ending my life.

I then went to my bedroom and I remember the room spinning and I just laid down and the room went black. I woke up the next day and the first thing I said to myself, was “I am so stupid I cannot even kill myself right.” I went for several more weeks, still in … Read more...

Teens and Young Adults: How to help your friend with depression?

how can you help

Teens and young adults ask me this question a lot. They have a friend who is confiding in them. That friend may be cutting, thinking of suicide, doing a lot of drugs, having trouble sleeping or just really depressed lately.

This is for those of you thoughtful enough to listen to that friend who is suffering. If suicide is an eminent threat, then you listen with compassion, call the suicide hotline and get them to the next level of care. Sometimes that means calling 911 or the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255. This podcast is a good one for having … Read more...