B’s Story
B’s story I’m a 17-year-old girl who has struggled with self-harm and suicidal thoughts since I was around 11/12 years old. I’ve always been very badly bullied, and that meant I would always move school as it affected me so much. From the age of 14 until I was 15, I dated a boy who […]
Amy’s Story
Amy’s story I was referred to Penumbra’s Self-Harm Network Scotland service when I was going through a hard time at school. Throughout my support, my Peer Practitioner Kayleigh would ask me questions. At the start I was feeling really bad: I used to self-harm and drink a lot, but the support I got really helped […]
Tracy’s Story
Tracy’s story Hi, I’m Tracy. I have been in long-term domestic, physically and sexually abusive relationships and started self-harming during my last relationship. I am now scarred for life. I ended up suicidal. But, getting help from Self-Harm Network Scotland really turned things around for me. Thankfully, I was being supported by Kayleigh, one of […]
Claire’s Story
Claire’s story My name is Claire, I’m 15 years old and I like to do sports like Taekwondo and dancing. I like to stay busy. I self-harmed for about 18 months, then my mum found out. I struggled with the thought of accessing support, but my mum was really supportive and explained to me that […]
Michael’s Story
Michael’s story For me it had got to the point where my depression and mental health had completely overtaken my life. I lost all of my interests and personality, and I didn’t see any way of carrying on. I was resorting to old habits that I’d used in the past, one of which was self-harm. […]
Tommy’s story
Tommy’s story I’m 50 years old, ex-military, with a lot of mental health problems, including PTSD. After going into hospital, I was referred to Penumbra’s Self-Harm Network Scotland service to get support with my self-harm. Things had just gotten on top of me, and I couldn’t see a way out… The support I got from […]
A mother’s story
A mother’s story I had a history with anxiety, depression, and a little bit of self-harm when I was younger, but at the time I didn’t receive any help because I hid it. After having my daughter last year, it all came back as I was struggling to deal with my feelings and emotions. I […]
Jo’s story
Jo’s story When I was 7 years old I was diagnosed with attachment disorder which I received counselling for. However, when I was 16 my relationship at the time broke down, which led me to attempt suicide. It was after this that I started to self-harm due to the immediate relief it gave me from […]
Courtney’s story
Courtney’s story My name is Courtney. I am a student and work part-time. My hobbies are reading, singing and playing the Mandolin. I also enjoy learning languages. I love playing video games, spending time with my partner and walking my dog. I referred myself to Penumbra’s Dundee self-harm service as I had self-harmed on and […]
Emily’s story
Emily’s story Before I reached out to Penumbra, I was quite nervous and anxious. I didn’t know what to expect as I have never been part of a self-harm service, so I thought that I would be told that I have to stop self-harming, that I’d have to throw away my materials etc. and I […]
