LifeSIGNS Home Link


Web
   Coming Out Depression can be behind self injury
Coming Out Coming Out Stories Unsent Letters Tell Someone Project
Contribute IconHelp Contribute 
RSS IconBlog & RSS News 
WAP IconFirstSigns in WAP 
Services IconServices Offered 
counter

Tell Someone Month - Every March and September is 'Tell Someone Month' - join us as we change our lives

The 'Tell Someone' project runs every March and September, and we await September 2008.

Get a free sticker!

Tell Someone!SIAD is only one day, but it's also the kick-off date for our new month-long 'Tell Someone' project. We're very excited to help people help themselves, and the 'Tell Someone' project may well help you break through your fears and actually tell someone about your self-injury, and the emotional reasons behind it.

'Coming Out' about self-injury is a big deal, but the secrecy can be overwhelming too; it's incredibly lonely when you feel like you're the only person who could be hurting themselves. FirstSigns shows that we're not alone, we've come together since 2002 to raise awareness and banish stigma.

 

So, how do you 'Tell Someone' and who do you tell?

StickersIt's your choice, but we have some tips on 'Coming Out' on our website, and we urge you to take some time to reflect on who you might tell and how you'll do it.

We'll be by your side throughout the month of March in a special 'Tell Someone' forum within our Message Board, and if you send us an email telling us who you told and how it went, we'll post you a “I Told Someone” sticker! How's that?! The sticker doesn't mention self-injury, it just shows the FirstSigns logo and says 'I Told Someone' in big positive letters!

So email your 'I Told Someone' stories to letters@lifesigns.org.uk and we'll post you a sticker through snail mail!

You can also request an avatar or web banner if you'd prefer us to email you your 'I Told Someone' badge.

So, let us know who you've told and how it went, how you felt about it all at the time and how you feel about it now, and we may publish your little story in the next edition of LifeSHINES, our newsletter.

Small Print

The 'Tell Someone' Month and the 'Tell Someone' Project is a FirstSigns initiative, run solely by FirstSigns

It's not attention seeking - video

You are free to take and distribute this little video.

It's non-triggering and safe.

 

 

Some images are from Flickr, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License; some kind Flickr people give us permission to use their work above and beyond this Attribution license.


Some Guides for Coming Out

  1. Plan who you are going to tell, don’t make it a general coming out session until you are confident.
  2. Tell them when you both have time to sit down, talk and think. This is not a thing to rush.
  3. Allow them time to respond, or to think; you don’t have to keep talking the whole time.
  4. Allow them to ask any question, even if it sounds silly to you.
  5. Accept that this news may upset them today; don’t allow yourself to get disappointed this first time.
  6. Make sure that they understand that you’ve put a lot of faith in them by telling them; ask that they do not speak of this to anyone else.
  7. Let them know that you are getting help / considering getting help.
  8. Let them know that Self Injury is a recognised syndrome, and that you understand that it is linked to your Self Esteem / Mental Health.
  9. Explain that you are not asking for them to ‘stop you’, but that you trust that they will support you emotionally.
  10. Explain that this is not their fault or responsibility.
  11. Don’t show your scars at this stage, it won’t add value to the conversation.
  12. Try to keep the conversation ‘informative’ and not ‘manipulative’. You are informing them of something important, that is all.
  13. Don’t talk all night! Keep the first conversation short; you both need time to think.
  14. Don’t tell them details of how and where you ‘do it’. You’re discussing your feelings today, that is all.
  15. Don’t ever tell anyone when angry at them.
  16. Don’t tell them when you’re upset.
  17. Don’t tell a group, always speak to individuals.

These are only general guidelines, every individual case and situation is different.


Facebook Profile Page

Facebook Group

MyLifeSIGNS on MySpace

LifeSIGNS Bebo Profile

LifeSIGNS on Twitter
Accessibility: Learn more.
Go Back to the Top of the page
Copyright 2002 - 2012. FirstSigns. All Rights Reserved.    Privacy Policy    Terms & Conditions