Ask Sam

Hi there,

It sounds like you have written to me before and not received a response. I do read all the letters I receive and I wish I could reply to all of them but that is not possible I’m afraid. I’m glad that you carried on writing to me and hope you find this response helpful.

I can hear that you are feeling trapped by the way your mum is treating you and it sounds like you feel that she is singling you out against your siblings. You tell me that she is emotionally and physically abusive to you and it is not right that your mum is treating you this way.

You want things to change and, for that to happen, people need to know what is going on. Otherwise, they won’t know that you are unhappy. You tell me that you can’t talk to anyone around you and don't feel comfortable talking to a teacher about this.  

Another option for you is talking to social services. Social services are there to make sure children and young people are safe and looked after and can work with families to make things better. Perhaps you could get in touch with one our counsellors by calling free on 0800 1111 or through 1-2-1 chat online. They can tell you some more about social services and how they may be able to help you.

You also tell me that you self-harm and that you want to run away and I’m concerned to hear that. Running away could mean that you are in danger and it’s important that if you are going to do that, to make sure you make a plan of how to keep yourself safe. It’s also important to be realistic about what would happen after you runaway. For example, you may be reported missing and the police could come and look for you. Perhaps you could come and talk to a counsellor about your thoughts about running away and they can support you to find safe ways to cope with your situation.

Take care, I hope that you get in touch

Sam