Q. My family and I moved to WA when I was 12. Shortly after that I began pulling out my hair. I would wake up at least 3 times every night. I had stopped pulling out my hair at the begging of 8th grade (13 yrs. old) and had replaced the behavior with every eating disorder except bulima. However, at the start of high school I stopped, and started cutting myself. I had also attempted suicide. For the past 3 months I hadn’t cut or thought of suicide. Recently, I have had problems with sleeping that are so bad that I need to take a sleeping pill every night, I have started cutting again, I can’t concentrate in school, I have stomach aches, head aches, and can’t ever hold still more than one minute or so. I tend avoid people and won’t hang out with friends outside of school.My parents only know about the hair pulling thing and I never recieved treatment/meds. It has been almost 4 ½ years since all of this started. Can you help me understand what is wrong? Is this behavior normal for someone my age or is there something wrong? I have looked all over the internet for answers. I would really appreciate your help and any information you could give me.
A. I cannot give a definite answer about what’s going on with you without knowing more about your specific situation. I would have to ask you a long list of questions to know for sure, and that is what a therapist can do for you. I can however tell you that your behavior is not normal. I would suggest that you open up to your parents about what you have been going through. You should not be afraid to tell your parents what is going on. I know it may be hard to tell them but it’s important that you take care of these behaviors before they become much worse and too difficult to manage. There is help for you. Talk to your parents, and if they will not listen to you, tell a school counselor. I think you can greatly benefit from counseling to help end your suffering and give you a chance to find out what is going on with you. Make the effort to talk to your parents and reach out for help. Take care and good luck.
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