Affecting Family And Friends

Sally's daughter, Maisie, has thrown herself out of a window, taken an overdose and self-harmed after being tormented by voices in her head.

Published 1st Sep 2015

Sally's daughter, Maisie, has thrown herself out of a window, taken an overdose and self-harmed after being tormented by voices in her head.

The 13 year old started experiencing mental health problems when her father died of cancer seven days after her 11th birthday

Sally says:

"Some of the ways that she harms herself are so extreme and you just feel helpless, it makes your stomach flip sometimes when she's cut and you've got clean her wounds,

It's almost like my emotions feel numb because I can't get upset about it as it doesn't help the situation at all - it's horrifying.

Every morning I wake up and wonder - is she alive?"

Maisie has spent months in an out of hospital, but her family face an ongoing battle, and she's not alone, shocking statistics reveal more than half of 11 to 14-year-olds have self-harmed or know someone who has.

Sally, her mum, says:

"I can't keep her safe, sometimes she just goes goes off wandering - so that family are always on alert to try and help me find her."

Maisie has been in and out of specialist units over the past year, and there are many more in her position.

So we have launched a campaign to encourage you to talk about self-harm and reduce the number of young people who are hurting themselves.

#HarmLESS has already got the backing of celebrities and the public.

You can listen to an extended interview with Sally here: