Things to do instead of hurting yourself

but what if its not because of emotion. what if you just WANT to? not need, just simply want to see blood and to have another scar? then what?

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SongsInMyHead said:
but what if its not because of emotion. what if you just WANT to? not need, just simply want to see blood and to have another scar? then what?

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But don't you see that as an emotional reason..... the want (desire) you speak of comes from within you.... from your unresolved wounds - rather you see it or not.


LoVe,
Rhapsody -

Thanks those are very helpful!

thanks you guys, i tried a bunch of these things out today cause i was feeling angry and messed up and just wanted to shred myself (not a good impression on the night before HS starts). the drawing with red was okay but afterwards i felt worse so i ended up using the rubberband which helped calm me down and then i went to our park on my bike, rode around it a few times and then stayed on the swings until i calmed down enough to go home and know i wasn't going to hurt myself.

Morgan, good job!

please please please to everyone think before you cut yourselves
i last cut myself using an extremely sharp item i got sick of surface wounds ,time and time i wanted to do damage, and do i regret it, that was last october 2005 my husband was going to let me go lucky for me the very deep wounds caused me so much pain trying to bathe them myself it reminded me how serious it was becoming.i am left with thick scars that have still not healed on my arms i cannot wear short sleeved tops(and we had a hot summer this year) when i go to work i have to wear a jacket.i am still with my husband and i have had thoughts but i look at my arms and realise when i went slash happy i was hurting the most understanding person in my life and scarring my body. think beforeyou cut i am on the road to recovery with my own will power and favourite music!!! i know why we do it but not everybody out there does

What I've done ...

1) Write - write anything, write poetry, write words
2) Draw - same thing as writing, just let your hand move around
3) Watch a funny movie
4) Go outside
5) Go people-watching (seriously, watching other people leads to all sorts of interesting observations about human behaviour)
6) Have a nap (when I wake up from a nap, I have to actually struggle to remember what was causing me such pain before)
7) Come on to PC (I've done this - just being here makes me feel a bit better)
8) Like Jeopardy - Phone a friend!
9) Wash dishes - hot water doesn't burn your skin, but it can give some amount of relief and you get the added bonus of having clean dishes!
10) If you've got a pet animal - spend some time with it, talk to it tell it how you're feeling - animals usually really like to listen or they're attention hogs and you'll be so busy catering to their whims that you won't have time to think about it!
11) Look through (non-triggering) photo's of your past - of friends and family or other pretty pictures.
12) Listen to music - loud music if you need to - sing along out loud if you want to as well!
13) Scream out loud or tear paper (old phone books work well) if you're feeling mad
14) If you're sad - allow yourself to cry or if you can't, watch a sad movie
15) If you're anxious, try to locate the source - write it down, as many times as needed - create a plan to solve the problem - take deep breaths
16) Bake or cook - fresh made food = a bit happier (especially if you make something that you really like)

I'll think of some more later probably.

http://www.selfinjury.org/docs/selfhelp.html

If you scroll down a paragraph or two this page has lists of things to do instead of cut categorized by what you are feeling/reasons you want to cut.

Cool, thanks for adding that link!

Rap

Thanks, all--very helpful. I've also heard that freezing an orange and riping it up sublimates the urge to cut.

Don't know if this is already on the list.. I know it really helps me out when I want to cut... atleast to some extent. I wear a elastic around my wrist and so I snap it whenever I get that feeling. It has really saved me some scars. It inflicts that distracting somewhat twinge of pain without really doing anything wrong.

Hi Everyone,

I seemed to overlook this subject in the pined area. I’ve been encouraged to copy my recent posting: Something that helps me to not SI (*might be triggering*) into this thread. So here it is...

Like the many of you here I struggle with SI and am always trying to find healthier and safer coping skills. For whatever it’s worth I have something that has helped me many times in preventing SI. I apologize if this becomes too triggering for anyone.

I highly believe in exercise as a stress reliever. But for those really really bad times I’ve learned to keep pieces of thick cardboard around to cut on or poke through. After a random act of cutting my vinyl chair seat... (poor chair)... I recognized a sense of relief. So now when I find my self feeling anxious and wanting to turn to SI, I try to remember to grab the cardboard in hopes I won’t injure myself. My true hope is for the urge to die completely, but as long as it’s alive this has felt like a safe way for dealing with it. It doesn’t always work but more often than not it does relieve a lot of my anxiety and keeps my body safe. (And it keeps the furniture and walls safe as well. *lol*)

Hugs to you all. Be safe and kind to yourselves. ~ Bee

I don't think we have instructions for progressive muscle relaxation posted yet, so here's a link:

http://www.guidetopsychology.com/pmr.htm

Basically you just tense a muscle group, hold, and then relax that muscle group, working through your body systematically. Some start with the feet, others with the hands or the head. Don't tense past the point of mild pain (I can want to overdo it).

The directions above have good information, but don't go through each muscle group step by step, and are long. Here's another that is more printable. I suggest you read both and practice what seems to work best for you.

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/musclerelaxation.html

This is another good set of instructions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobson's_Progressive_Muscle_Relaxation

Okay, you're probably getting the idea by now.

Try doing a Soduku puzzle. They are fun but it does take some serious thinking to figure them out especially if you haven't done them before. It will help get your mind on that instead of SI.

That's a good one too. I do Sudoku puzzles when my brain gets stuck with whatever else I'm trying to do. You can do them online here: http://www.websudoku.com/

I write all the feelings that I am having down on paper then I tear the paper up.. it works most of the time!

It used to help me and one thing that still does. I used to do a research on Self-Harm. The more I did the paper on it I realize that is why I harm. What mostly helps is going to the chat room here and talking about what is going on

I used to colour my whole hand in with a texture instead of cutting until the urge went a away.

I play with play dough or draw faces, scribble. I also have a soft ball I throw agiants the wall

i used to cut, but ive started punching walls instead which leaves me with horribly bruised, swollen, and crippled hands.

my therapist suggested that i punch pillows or my bed. this early in my treatment of this behavior this option wasnt giving me the relief i needed and i would just go back to punching bricks. so she then suggested i go ahead and punch whatever i felt i needed to, but that i wrap my hands over and over again with a thick towel so that there was no chance i would injure my hands/knuckles. for now, this works. and eventually i know ill be able to move onto punching my pillows or just coping with the stress in a less violent and aggressive manner.

New here not only to this group but to emailing etc. So sorry if this doesn't come out right. I took a DBT class and they taught us all these skills. Very detailed and intellectual. Good info but when I'm that close to SI I'm not logical at all. So I got like a shoebox or whatever and put stuff in it so I just have to lift the lid and look inside. I have lots of stuff in there. They are all related to things I learned in group. It is my emergency kit. I have black nail polish(my favorite), pictures of people I love, a serenity chip, smarties and sweettarts (for when I'm dissociating and not in my skin), a emory board my therapist gave me, a yoyo, a superball, a rainforest CD, Happy Feet-the movie, cucumber melon hand lotion, pictures of places I'd love to visit, a lollipop, and other stuff. It doesn't guarantee my safety but it does show a willingness to change. Hope this helps someone.

Pluck your eyebrows.

It works for me anyway.

Thanks for the ideas everyone (:
Hopefully I'll find one in this long list which will help me (:
x

when i go through the list .. it remind my past.. i was going to cut myself...but i rush to my room and used a black marker to draw my face a big X . that big X can clearly be seen. i leave that X mark on my face and i continue to do my stuff till my family noticed.. and i laugh bout it.. LOL

I have a box with things in - funny things - pics of places id like to go - my T reminded me of something though - it helps to change the things every now and then or they may stop working so just wanted to pass that on - clever old T