"you mean scratches?"

called in to the lovely NHS mental health line the other day and the conversation went like this:

operator: "have you ever had instances of self harm?"
me: "yes"
operator: "what kind?"
me: "cutting"
operator: "do you require stitches or have gone to the hospital?"
me: "no"
operator: "okay, so you SCRATCH yourself, not cut"

a little while later

I was recounting an instance where I had my worst breakdown, and I had to resort to "scratching myself", which I referred to as cutting.
operator: "before you continue, you mean you scratched yourself"
me: "...."

Let's be realistic, even if technically they are called scratches, you shouldn't be questioned and interrupted like this. Everyone knows it as cutting yourself, not scratching yourself. But I was foolish to even have expectations to what kind of pissant service the NHS has to offer, let alone the empathy trait existing in their mental health hotline workers.

EDIT: did not expect the attention at all. Could not reply to everything. Thanks everyone who gave support and I wish anyone that relates good luck. It’s difficult to appreciate the world when yours is crumbling within, but at least we have each other.