Letting it out PHYSICALLY
• Scream as loud as you can
• HIT a cushion / punch bag / throw a cushion against a wall
• Smash a water melon
• Kick a football against a wall
• Squeeze ice really hard
• Squeeze a stress ball
• Tear up a newspaper/phone directory
• Play loud music and dance energetically – be as wild as you like
• Draw on the place you want to cut with red marker pen, fake blood or watered down food
colouring
• Write words on yourself with a red marker pen
• Spend some energy - go for a walk/swim/go to the gym/ride a bike/go running.
Trying to work out how you’re feeling…
• Ask yourself “Do I feel ANGRY?’ ‘Do I feel anxious?’ ‘What about?’
• Ask yourself ‘What would the razor blade say if it could talk to me?’
• Write a letter to someone you’re angry with (hurt by etc.) saying how you feel (No need to send it.)
• Write a list of your achievements
• Write a letter to yourself saying ‘I love YOU because….’
• Make a list of things you’re thankful for
• Make a wish list
Talking about it…. • Talk to a friend
• Call the Samaritans or other helpline.
• Allow yourself to cry (if you can)
Using your Creativity
• Draw / paint / collage / paper mache / finger paint / sculpt in clay - to express what you
want to do or what you are feeling
• Write a poem / story / song / joke / autobiography / parody / musical
• Write a DIARY / journal or read old diaries (unless there might be triggers)
• Go to myspace.com and write an online journal
• Scribble a word again and again to say how you’re feeling e.g. ‘lonely’, ‘angry’
• Deface a magazine (preferably your own)
• Paint with red paint using your fingers
• Draw yourself in MS office
• Write a message in a self-harm newsgroup on the internet
• Take some photos
• Play an instrument / Sing to music as LOUD as you can
• Put on music which expresses how you are feeling
• Write out the soundtrack to your life if it were a film
• Imagine a colour which expresses your feelings then change it in your mind to another
colour
• Make a memory box / scrapbook
• Write an alternative ending to a story
• Watch a foreign language channel and make up your own interpretations
• Create your own cartoon characters / legends
• Create a SECRET CODE
Comforting Yourself…
• Have a bath or shower
• Stay in bed
• Use aromatherapy oils
• Eat chocolate (or whatever)
• Have an ‘emergency box’ with whatever helps you cope
• Buy something special
• Massage your hands / arms / feet (or the area you want to harm)
• Stroke a pet / cuddle a teddy
• Smoke a cigarette
• Ask a friend to hold you
• Paint your nails / Have your hair done
• Have a cup of tea
• Rock / hug yourself
• Give yourself a henna tattoo
• Meditate / yoga
DISTRACTING yourself
Leisure Activities
• Watch television / video / DVD
• Play on a computer
• Go on the internet
• Learn a new skill (juggling / making balloon animals)
• Do puzzles / play chess / make your own puzzles
• Origami / Scobidous / make jewellery
• Sew / knit
• Go through a photo album
• Design a dream house
• Have a debate
• Build a card house
• Make a paper chain of the days its been since you last cut (add a new one every
day)
• Find out how to put 8 queens on a chessboard without any of them being able to kill
each other (There are 92 possible ways to do this)
• Make a T-shirt
• Look for pictures in the clouds.
GETTING OUT AND ABOUT……..
1. Sweep the path
2. Wash your car
3. Do some gardening
4. Go for a drive
5. Go to an arcade or playground
6. Make a kite/fly a kite
7. Get on a train and go to the sea
8. Look at constellations.
Being Productive…….. .
1. Catch up on DIY / housework
2. Cook/bake something
3. Have a clear out – give your old stuff to charity
4. Re-arrange your room/decorate
5. Read/study
6. Give your pets a bath
7. Volunteer somewhere
8. Join a class
9. Think about what you’d like to change about your life and make a plan.
Reasoning with yourself
'When you’re not feeling like self-harming, write a list of reasons to avoid self-harm. The list will
be different for each person - it's whatever makes sense to you. Look at the list when you feel
like harming yourself. It could include things like:
1. “I’ve managed for two weeks without harming. I don’t want to start again”
2. “Once I start it’s difficult to stop”
3. “I’ll regret the damage afterwards”
4. “It doesn’t help in the long run. I can harm now but I’ll need to do it again in a couple of days."
5. “I don’t want to end up in hospital”
6. “If I can hang on the need to self-harm sometimes passes”
7. “There may be consequences I don’t want e.g. brain damage, paralysis”
8. “Self-harm affects my relationships.
1. Learn CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)
techniques.
2. When you’re feeling good write yourself a letter you can read when you want to self-harm
3. Write down why you do not deserve to be hurt.
Making yourself safe
• Try to identify things that prompt you to self-harm. If possible avoid them or prepare for
them
• Avoid shops that sell things you might use to harm yourself
• Stay with a friend
• Ask GP to give you weekly prescriptions or pick up medication for two days at a time from
the chemist
• Do not stockpile medication (prescribed or over the counter)
Reducing stress
• Do some relaxation exercises / listen to a relaxation tape
• Ask a friend to look after the children for a few hours
• Reduce your commitments in the next few days
Rewarding yourself for not self-harming
• Keep a chart – add a star for each day / hour you have not self-harmed
• If you do self-harm, just leave a space and start again
Delaying self-harm
• Keep things you harm yourself with in a locked cupboard or in a box with sellotape
around it. It gives you time to think between wanting to self-harm and doing it.
• Phone Samaritans – arrange to ring again in an hour/ two hours and promise yourself you will not harm before then.
• Use any of the suggestions for avoiding self-harm to try and delay it for a while.