Expert: Nafeesah - 5/13/2009

Question
I've not liked home or my family for a long time and occasionally one of the teachers has had to persuade me to go home, but lately I've found other coping mechinisms. I self harmed a bit, I still have the wound on my arm, but my parents saw and it just made me think about them more when I tryed to hide it, so I started joining one of the anorexic girls in my school in not eating. I find that its easier to worry about my health and body weight than what its like when I get home. I'm worried that if it gets round the school then the teachers will tell my parents about it and if they find out why I'm doing it it will jjust make things worse and I'll become so obsessed that I can't ever get myself out of it or that I'll turn to doing something else that damages my health even more. Also, if I did get help from the teacher they'd have to tell my parents because I'm at risk from myself wouldn't they?

What should I do?

Answer
By you not eating people will know something is wrong because anorexics can't hide their disease the way bulimics do(I would not advise you to use this tactic either). If you're having so many issues at home have you considered going to live with a trusted relative? It's an option if you're having a lot of issues at home for whatever reason. By law your teachers are mandated to report things from sexual abuse to self-harm...there's no way out of that one. I would seek some kind of counseling to get to the bottom of the issues you're facing and begin to resolve them. Not eating food is not the way to deal with your problems.