[ginger1776]

My Aunt passed away. brain cancer. we were close. i'm mostly in a fog now and i need my drug, my pain. I've been using a rubber band on my wrist. pullin it back and snappin it. the pain is nice but now ive got welts on my arms. does that count as self injury. I'm doing all i can not to cut but if this is just as bad maybe the urge isn't worth fighting anymore

Hi ginger1776,

If you are snapping the band hard enough to create welts, I would have to assume that you're snapping the band with quite a bit of force, right? I think this method is supposed to be for a little sting at most.

Personally, it never worked for me. Something that DID work better (temporarily) was the ice cube method: pressing an ice cube against my wrist hard until it melted. You'd be surprised how much that could hurt, and it doesn't leave a mark.

That being said, I have found that the only way I was able to achieve a long period from SI (over 6 months now) was to focus on WHY I was self-injuring, as opposed to distracting myself with less severe pain. Because for me, it left me wanting more.

You have my deepest condolences. Do you have someone close to you, a family member, friend, or therapist, that you can talk to about your struggles with wanting to self-harm?

[Sannah]

Can you talk to anyone about your grief? Mourning is normal. Let the pain out.