urgent advice needed re:self harm

[silworriedsick]

Hi all, I am in turmoil and need some advice. We have found out tonight that a young family member is self harming and behaving oddly.

A concerned friend got in touch. We had no idea.

The family member is living over 100 miles from us and we are struggling to know what to do for the best. A housemate is keeping us updated and thinks it might be too startling if we turn up there later tonight.

I will speak to a doctor tomorrow but has anyone any advice tonight?

The person concerned should see their own gp. Or practise nurse or university counsellor or whatever of those is relevant. Self harm is surprisingly more common than is realised and most medical people do not over react as it is often a symptom of other things... Could be stress, a difficult time etc. it does not always mean something is very serious and some dh's sum it up as an abnormal coping mechanism to a difficult situation. Working out if there is a difficult situation and dealing with that can offen help matters.

The person concerned has to seek help for themselves as unless it is a life threatening situation no one can force treatment or support. So encouraging them to do that is always helpful.

Should say some dr's !!

If the situation is life threatening then emergency services should of course always be contacted and if the person refuses treatment the police can use a police mental health section to hold someone in a place of safety but the situation does not sound life threatening so I am sure tomorrow will be ok and it sounds like the family member is not alone which is good to hear.

Thanks hoop. I just feel very helpless. We are very afraid of doing the wrong thing.

I am concerned that if he realises his friend contacted us it may cause him to react badly so don't know exactly how to approach the subject.

He is due home at weekend so we'll take it from there.