Dear New Member~
I'd like to give you a warm welcome here. It's a place if you look around you will find many who have self harmed too.
You sound like ATM you are managing to cope with all the hard things life has thrown at you though do not sound happy at all. Would you like to say what sorts of things make you feel down or need to SH?
I guess I'd better give you the standard talk about self harm, though I suspect you may know all this already. Apart from anything else it is a dangerous trap, and while your current activities may fill a need there is the possibility over time you will have to go harder to get the same feeling, leading to going too far, or have an unintended accident. Then again becoming so unhappy you want out and take your life.
My apologies for saying all this, I don't mean to lecture and I'm not a doctor, however I'd not feel right if I felt I'd let you believe SH is harmless.
OK with that out the way I wonder if you could say why you think if you said anything to anyone they would have unreasonable expectations? If it is parents or a family member thay can be a valuable resource, being there to talk to when you are feeling low, or the urge to self harm is getting too much. Maybe at first they might not understand, parents are limited by their own experiences after all, but can learn the right information.
The same is true of friends, though there is a bit of a trap there if they self harm too, they have not found another way of dealing with things.
No sensible or experienced person is going to expect you can come to a full stop straight away, so I'd suggest a professional may be the best sort of person to talk to. This can be a GP to start things off. Or maybe if you are under 25 Kids Help Line (1800 55 1800), a place with a lot of knowledge about SH, they can be a comfort. They are 24/7 with phone and web-chat counceling and peer support as wel as info. BTW the phone counceling is best even if web counseling seems easier to start with.
If you are over 25 them Lifeline (13 11 14 ) or the Suicide Call Back Service might be good options, they are very flexible and aren't just there for suicide.
I've been in a similar situation, not telling anyone anything and getting to a worse and worse state over time as things build up and the ways I've used to deal with things are not working. I felt more and more trapped and tried to take my life. I could not get better by myself and things only turned around when I sought help and was no longer alone.
If you felt like coming back and talking more that would be great
Croix
