Morgan's Story
I self-harmed for a few years and then stopped. It came back in phases every few months and the way I was doing it changed, so I reached out to my GP who told me about the support that is available from Penumbra’s Self-Harm Network Scotland service.
Not long after I first contacted the service, I started one-to-one support phone calls. Kerri was my Peer Practitioner for the sessions and she was really lovely. I worked full time, but I was able to arrange my support session for a lunchtime every week, which was perfect because it can be a struggle lining things up when working every day during the week.
The support sessions and conversations were really good. I feel like Kerri was really easy to talk to and the conversations were very open. I got a lot of support for thoughts and feelings that I had – I had previously thought I was the odd one out with how I felt, but now I know that is not the case. I also found that through the sessions I was able to find out about other factors influencing why I self-harm, and because of that I have been able to get therapy to help with those other issues.
"If you self-harm and need support, I think you should just give Self-Harm Network Scotland a go.
It’s a free service and you are guaranteed to get something out of it."
The support I received helped me to come up with strategies that I can use when I feel I want to self-harm, and it also helped me to identify other factors which contribute to the WHY I do it. As such I have been able to get help with that which I wouldn’t have been able to do if it wasn’t for speaking to Self-Harm Network Scotland.
The support has had a positive impact on my life. I have areas to work on and have more clarity as to the reasons why I self-harm, so I can help myself.
Life is good now; I have a good routine for each of my days in the week and the future hopefully brings more fun times and starting a family.
If you self-harm and need support, I think you should just give Self-Harm Network Scotland a go. It’s a free service and you are guaranteed to get something out of it. You will think more about yourself, learn about why you do things and that will help you uncover things about yourself that you didn’t know. It’s just an hour a week so it isn’t a big commitment and it’s an easy way to have a friendly and open conversation.
The fact that my Peer Practitioner Kerri has lived experience of self-harm made our conversations flow much more easily. Talking to someone who has been through similar things meant that I could relate to her and as such it was easier to go more in depth because she understood exactly what I was talking about every step of the way.
Thank you for sharing your story, Morgan.