Dear Alice,

I, too, have found myself cutting my ankle. I have been suffering this for over a year now, but I thought I had it under control; the truth is, I don't.

I feel that I have an anxiety disorder, also. I am up sometimes for whole nights at a time, worrying about... well... nothing in particular. I have a great life, and I don't know what's going on with my mind and body.

I find it hard to bring this up with anyone. Some people have seen my scars, and I have told friends about my problems with anxiety. They tell me that everyone has stress problems once in a while... but I believe it isn't normal to have it everyday.

Sometimes it is athletic stress. I once had a slightly traumatic experience with a running incident that has left me fearful of failing. Other than that, my life is absolutely perfect. I don't know what's going on with me, and I would talk to someone, but I wouldn't be able to tell my parents. I think it would hurt them too much.

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To the reader:

Your not alone! It is very hard to talk about cutting while you are going through it! I have gone through depression, anxiety, cutting, drinking and whatever else comes along with it. If you have a friend going through depression the best thing you can do is be there. It is very hard dealing with someone that has depression because you don't feel like you can help them but by staying there even when they are pushing you so hard is the most important thing. I can't stress that enough — you dont have to cure them because they need to take those steps for themselves, but they need that hand to hold no matter what they tell you.

If your friend is cutting, it is a lot like depression, stick by their side. If you know it's bad don't leave them alone. I know I would never cut when someone else was around but as soon as they left thats the first thing I would do. Make it an effort to not leave them alone. Take them somewhere to get help and go with them and stay with them, this for someone who is going through it is very scary! If you have a friend that is going through any of this please stick it out and know that this is not them — it's something more powerful then they can control and they need you more then ever to get through it!