Don't know how to confess I cut

[TiredWallflower]

I'm really struggling right now, I'm desperate to tell someone that I self harm but I don't know how to or who to talk to. I have been doing it for years, not regularly and not for a while now but I feel like I need to tell someone before I start again. I've always used writing as an outlet, describing my feelings and when I have self harmed but I'm desperate to talk to someone properly, but I'm worried about how they would react and how to even broach the subject. I don't know whether to talk to someone I know like my parents or friends or to a teacher or Counselor at college :/ No one I know even suspect that I have self harmed and I don't want it to change the way they look at me. I'm scared to speak up.



(This is my first post on here so I don't know if there should be a trigger warning or tags or anything :/ )

[Thirteen]

Hey, and Welcome to TeenHelp!

If you really want to tell somebody, keep in mind your confidentiality laws. For example, I think all over the USA (or at least some parts), confessing self-harm to an adult obligates that adult to tell your parents, if they're concerned about your well-being. In Canada (or at least, in my province), if you're 16 and over, they can't tell, or else they're breaching your confidentiality.

So, if that's an issue, you can ask the counselor to sign a contract of confidentiality (if they're willing to), or... Just go straight to your parents. They have a high likelihood of finding out anyways (considering someone at your school/doctor's office could tell them), so you should probably just be honest with them.

[TiredWallflower]

Thank you, considering what you have said I think I'd rather tell my parents first, I think I'd feel worse if they found out from someone else :/ And I'm not sure what the law is here, though I'm eighteen in a month so it may change anyway.
Thank you for your help