[eunoia535]

So. Is the point not to injure but causing pain to your body is ok? Or is this a very fine line?

Many people find ways to cope with dealing with the urge to self harm. Some people snap rubber bands against their skin, others will melt ice in their hands. I have my ways that i manage but I am unsure if I am allowed to voice them here.

[eunoia535]

Originally Posted by ChaoticInsanity

Many people find ways to cope with dealing with the urge to self harm. Some people snap rubber bands against their skin, others will melt ice in their hands. I have my ways that i manage but I am unsure if I am allowed to voice them here.

You can PM me?! I don't want to injure I just need something to help while I learn how to cope better. Ice and bands not working.

[Resident Bipolar]

I've used the ice idea with an added trick:

Possible trigger:

and added a load of dark red dye, you can guess why without me being graphic

[Resident Bipolar]

Just re-read this and have something else to add, as I completely missed the point the other night :P (Tiredness wins!)

Of course if given the choice between the two, a doctor would recommend causing to pain to oneself instead of an injury. If you physically harmed or injured yourself, it is doing physical and perhaps permanent damage whereas somehow inflicting pain without physically causing an injury or harm to yourself is, almost always, unlikely to cause any lasting damage.

Psychologically it is worrying that somebody is causing pain to themselves intentionally, whether that causes physical injury (or harm) or not. Why? Well, it shows that there is a psychological need or desire to feel pain which can be an indicator of severe emotional distress, impulsiveness, Borderline Personality Disorder and autism, among other things. Therefore it is still something that requires attention and can suggest to a psychiatrist or psychologist that you may need treatment in some shape or form.

Physically causing injury or harm to oneself is normally more worrying to a medical professional because, well it's causing damage and can be dangerous to your physical health. As for causing pain intentionally without causing injury, it's still something that should be paid attention to and on a psychological level, causing yourself pain can be damaging; even if self injury leaves no physical mark, it can be addictive and psychologically damaging.

So to summarize, causing pain to yourself is often a much better alternative to causing physical injury.

RB

[eunoia535]

if I am refraining from self harm that causes injury. It's been 48 hrs. is it self harm if you cause pain but don't injure? If it is. It's been 24hrs. rubber bands snapped causes pain. It seems to be more 'acceptable' as an alternate? if its ok to freeze your skin with ice - is the opposite - very hot water, acceptable?

[Resident Bipolar]

Originally Posted by eunoia535

if I am refraining from self harm that causes injury. It's been 48 hrs. is it self harm if you cause pain but don't injure? If it is. It's been 24hrs. rubber bands snapped causes pain. It seems to be more 'acceptable' as an alternate? if its ok to freeze your skin with ice - is the opposite - very hot water, acceptable?

If you're replacing any self injury with methods that cause pain without causing physical damage, it is indeed more acceptable and safer. No scars either. Self injury is causing an injury to yourself, eg a cut or a burn. Self harm can cover self injury, as well as harmful behaviour such as

Possible trigger:

overdoses

(don't worry about this - they are pretty much synonymous with one and another).

The hot water would be acceptable in a way, as long as you're careful. It takes varying amounts of heat to cause a burn such as a blister or damaged skin, and the line between you feeling pain from hot water without burning yourself and blistering your skin and in fact causing some serious skin damage is very thin indeed!

[eunoia535]

Thanks Resident Bipolar. I figured it would be a very thin line.