I want to welcome you to our little place on the boards. I am glad you have found us and I hope we can help you get through this period of difficulty.

I have to agree with Wendy totally. Having been a self-injurer for 24 years I can tell you from experience that it becomes a habit that is extremely hard to break. All the time hurting myself made it possible to avoid truely dealing with the feelings that I wanted to escape so I never learned how to make things better for myself. It is like drinking. You can drink yourself into a stupor but the next morning the problems are still there AND you have a hangover. Our hangovers are scars and a stigma.

I found that it was important for me to get therapy to help me learn to let those feelings play through me. To help me learn to cope with the over-whelming emotion that I wanted to escape from. It is also a place that I can say what I need to say without fear that my life will be wrecked by the things said in that office.

Now lets think of things that you can do to get you through this moment. First off, know that we all have gone through what you are going through. You are not alone. For me it is a daily struggle. Sometimes just a mild itch that I can distract myself from, sometimes it is an mind robbing craving that I don't have a clue how to make stop.

Some things to do:
Get excercise: run, dance, lift weights, garden, do jumping jacks
Do something creative: painting, poetry
Do something repetitive: knitting, crochetting, bouncing a ball off a wall, video games
Do something to explore your feelings: journaling, tarot cards
Do something social: Call a friend, keep posting here

Most of all take care of yourself,
Carrie

<font color=green>But the implicit and usually unconscious bargain we make with ourselves is that, yes, we want to be healed, we want to be made whole, we're willing to go some distance, but we're not willing to question the fundamental assumptions upon which our way of life has been built, both personally and societally.--Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft