TeenHelp - Triggering: Responding to an Allegation Self Harm.

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- - Triggering: Responding to an Allegation Self Harm. (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f12-self-harm/t132758-responding-allegation-self-harm/)

Responding to an Allegation Self Harm.

I was wondering about this earlier, if someone comes up to you and discloses they have seen someone self harming around the corner or something like that, or I walk by the corridor and see someone with a weapon harming themselves, how do you respond to that and what exactly do you do. I mean one option is to call the police or security officers straight away but this is someone who is obviously distressed and doesn't want to talk to uniformed members.

There is the option of approaching her and trying to talk to her myself, which I can probably do quite comfortable and with poise, but then again, this is someone who is obviously armed and probably not going to want to talk to me either. There is the option of talking to an officials such as the Uni councellor of someone like that, but that will only work if it is a school or somewhere small and where the officials know everyone and that normally is not applicable to most cases, so how do you respond to that?

If you see someone self harming of someone tells you about an allegation they have seen someone doing the same, where exactly do you go from there?

H.

Re: Responding to an Allegation Self Harm.

Well, as far as seeing someone themselves, if you think that they are in any danger, you can always tell someone that will be able to get them help, such as a nearby professor, or, well security, because at least then she would be safe from doing any damage.

My outlook on it is this, it's better to say something to someone, rather than to leave them there to do it and risk something happening. Of course, if they have a weapon, you'll want to address whether it is safe for you to go in or not, but if it is not safe for you, a security official or someone from the health center may know how to adequately handle it better. They ARE doing it in an open space, after all, so there is always the risk of someone who is not so kind seeing before you.