[Everglow.]

Hi Lyl

I am sorry that you are going through this. It's not a nice way for your parents to find out and it's even worse that certain freedoms are being taken away from you because of this. I think they are probably doing what they think is right - keeping you in sight so that you can't hurt yourself. But they probably don't realise that it has an impact on how you feel and that it's not the only way to help you.

I think Emmie has given some really good advice about how you could approach this with your parents. Having a neutral person present is a great way to make sure both sides of the conversation are being heard. I think when doing this (if you decide to) it would be really good to let them know that the extracurricular activities you're no longer allowed to do are things you enjoy. If these are helpful and benefit your mental health, definitely let them know this. Also, perhaps let them know how else you deal with urges when they come about. This way they can see that you're dealing with a conflict in your mind and you are working on avoiding harmful behaviours rather than just following a crowd. It's a common misconception and often caused by parents just not really getting it. If you've never experiences self harm, it's hard to understand why a person might resort to it. But if you let them know what you are doing to try and tackle the urges perhaps they will understand just a little bit more.

I hope you are staying strong and getting through this. Please feel free to PM me any time if you want to chat.