My younger sister has gone through what was a phase for me self mutilation/self injury/cutting, whatever you want to call it. We don't get along(surprise sibling's not seeing eye to eye,heh), I try to be helpful, but because I drink,smoke and do dope she could care less about anything that comes out of my mouth, she just shoves me away when a problem comes up (cat died, relationship ended, problem with teachers I've had in the past) or when I have even the simplest question "how was your day?" "**** off!" ANYTHING.
I can't talk to her about it, my mother is the only person she'll listen to with a semi-open mind, and then she claims that my mom talking about it makes her so depressed she dices up her arms more. My mom's taking the "It's stupid, Stop! you don't need to be doing that" approach. And now she's just given up on trying.
She cuts up her arms, then run's to someone who'd give her sympathy(literally sometimes). She'd cut, then go to my dad, who's taking the safe approach with "you could get sepsis, or some other kind of infection, it's not good for you" and he cleans her up with peroxide and bandages her.
After that got old she's now started literally going to our neighbors(big into Christianity) 15 minutes after cutting and shows them and gets her hugs and "we'll pray for you"s, and invites friends over and "non-nonchalantly" shows them and gets her attention there. (For the note I have no problem with Christianity)
Anybody have any ideas, I kinda swapped it out with doping, but still did cut a bit, and really just grew out of it. Should I just wait until those years pass or try intervene?
I didn't stop drinking liquor until I started vomiting blood, but I don't know how to really get her to hit close to a bottom to want to stop, the more anyone tells her she's pretty(and she is, not just from an objective sibling's standpoint) and doesn't need to scar up herself the more she does. And she's started going for quality and quantity, I think I've even seen a few burn marks already but we speak so little I'm not sure.
My parents have just given up on it, and so have I, to me it's annoying, her running over to her friends and our neighbors and complaining that her life is so horrible because her mother's sick, her brother's a dope fiend and her family's filled with drunks, addicts and a few mentally ill people.
Therapy isn't an option, we don't have the cash, and it's been discussed and she won't consent to going.
Anything that's worked for anybody, please let me know,. Suggestions are always greatly appreciated, this is my last effort before becoming completely apathetic to the situation.
Suggestion:
You can't "save" her, but I'm questioning why your parents aren't trying to. This is abuse/neglect to just let your kid do something so harmful.
I am not a psychiatrist or a therapist, but I have a very good background in psych from school & experiences as a nurse. Manipulation of this sort is often signs of something called borderline personality disorder, but it may not be. She needs professional help regardless and only a psychiatric professional can make a proper diagnosis.
Sounds like your whole family including you could benefit from family therapy. If your parents won't do something, you can always talk to a school counselor or another trust worthy adult.
Frankly, your parents should be reported to the police for child neglect/abuse. Not providing medical care for a child who is harming themselves is wrong no matter how you look at it.
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