The news is fresh and you feel what you feel. Of course you are shocked! Your daughter seems "normal" and then you learn this. Unfortunately parents of teenagers are often shocked - shocked to find their kids arrested for shoplifting, shocked to find them pregnant, shocked to find them stopped for drunk driving and so on and on. The shock is often accompanied by rage. Caring parents trust their kids to come to them or at least be open with them about their activities and their feelings. When it turns out that they have a secret life or a secret side to their personality, parents feel deeply hurt and betrayed. Parents have normally given their all to their children. What kind of payback is this? So your shock, sense of betrayal, hurt and anger are all perfectly normal. And what's also normal is that in a little while, you are going to work through all of that and realize that you have a daughter who needs you now. Emotions unfold in an orderly way. I assume your daughter has not yet come home from school. I bet by the time she does, you'll already be calmer and more ready to deal with her. As you know, teenagers go through a lot of change and inner turmoil. They often don't know how to handle it all and so they end up starving themselves, cutting themselves or getting high. It takes time and sometimes professional counseling for them to find better ways of handling stress. In your daughter's case, professional counseling is definitely in order - cutting is always a cry for help and indicates the presence of strong, unresolved emotions. Counseling might be appropriate for you (and your husband) as well, to help you get through this with your daughter in the best way. Adolescence is hard - but parenting an adolescent is also hard. So get support for all of you.   Sarah Chana