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I can’t tell my friends


We hope what you see here helps.  If you are feeling like running away or are away from home, we are here to listen.

Call or Text 116 000. For free and in confidence.

There can be a lot of reasons for you feeling like you can’t talk over your situation with your friends. It could be that you think they might not understand, that they would tell other people, or that you are feeling embarrassed about something and think they may judge you. Any of these can feel like a barrier to opening up.

You’ll find that a lot of sites such as this one talk about talking. Keeping something inside can often make things worse and being able to speak with someone about your feelings and your concerns can help ease the situation. Sometimes you can feel guilty about something that you did – maybe you feel it was wrong and don’t think anyone will understand.

But they will.

Although it feels like it, it’s very unlikely that you’re the first person going through what you’re feeling. Talking things out can help relieve stress and anger and can ease a feeling of loneliness.

If you have friends who care about you, they would want you to be ok and most would want to know if there was something they could do to help you.

When we talk about “talking”, we don’t necessarily mean you need to actually say the words. There are lots of services now that can help by text, email and IM, many of them are listed on this website. When you’re ready, why not try a helpline? Most are confidential and you could start by saying a little bit about how you’re feeling whilst knowing you can end the call at any time if you feel uncomfortable, then when you’re ready you can call back.

Once you’ve spoken to someone in this way it may be the first steps to being able to talk with your friends who know you best and will hopefully support you.

Are you thinking of running away because you have been affected by I can’t tell my friends?
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The Runaway Helpline can only provide services to children and young people within the United Kingdom, and information and advice on this site relates to the UK only.

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