Your Life Line

This story is part of Cut Up Kids and Born Survivors shown on BBC 3. Tor has Self-harmed since the age of 15.

<><><><><><><><>

BORN SURVIVORS Tuesday 18 December 10.30pm, BBC Three Cut Up Kid

It has been estimated that

10% of young people in Britain have self-harmed. There are no official figures, but hospital records show that nearly 500 adolescents a week are treated for deliberately injuring themselves. Emma Parsons, producer of Born Survivors: Cut Up Kids, reveals why one woman resorted to self-harm.

Tor is a country girl who grew up surrounded by ponies and public school life. She had a normal childhood, with a normal family.

However, mounting pressure to achieve the entry grades for an exclusive sixth form college caused her to crack - and self-harm became a large part of her life.

"You just take a knife," says Tor. "You just press it down on your skin and you just pull it. You end up bleeding."

"When you drag the blade across your skin it just feels a release."

"It's like when you hold your breath, hold your breath. You just feel you are going to blow up. Self-harm is like when you breathe again."

Her problems began while preparing for her GCSE's at the age of 15. She felt a large amount of pressure to do well in her exams and her parents sent her to a  college in Oxford.

She and her school had high expectations that she would get excellent grades.