"A&E experience"

I attended A+E having cut myself. I was quite anxious. The doctor looked said they could staple it without local anaesthetic. I asked why, and they said that they were busy and it would be quickest and that they thought I'd want out of there quickly. I had never had staples, only stitches in the past, so was a bit nervous about that on top of not having any local anaesthetic. I felt guilty for taking up time and having been told they were busy I didn't feel able to ask anything else. The doctor went away then came back, cleaned the wound roughly with gauze and water which was really painful. They then did nine staples followed which were also painful. I just had to breathe and pretend I was somewhere else to get through it. They gave me a couple of dressings and told me to have the staples removed a week later and I left. I was quite upset after this and feel like because my injury was due to self harm I was treated differently to someone who might have had an accident and attended with similar injuries.

It might seem illogical to be upset about the pain having injured myself but I've since been assured that this wasn't OK. At the time I felt it was my own fault and I deserved more pain and that it didn't matter. I felt like I couldn't question further or say how much it hurt because they'd emphasised how busy they were and I felt even more guilty for taking up time.