How can I stop the "urge"

hi guys well I just want to say that sometimes I really can feel the "urge" coming on to lead me to SI. Sometimes I don't but sometimes I'm in a certain situation and I think "I know where this is leading" and I end up going away and SI'ing. I was just wondering if anybody had any "tips" what they do when or if they feel the urge as well?

I usually feel urges at night time so i usually try and sleep. But there are plenty other things you can do, like holding an ice cube in your hand to feel pain instead of actually leaing scars on yourself.
Silver queen put up a good list of things to do instead of cutting...i will try and find it and post it here!

ALTERNATIVES TO SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIORS:
-Use washable red markers to "cut" on your skin
-Use colored pens to draw on your skin, simulating the feel of cutting, but much more safe.
-Place your hands in freezing cold water
-Listen to music/relaxation tapes
-Repetitive reality checking (It's January 2001, and I'm going to be ok)
-Negotiate with yourself
-Get to know others
-Recognize and acknowledge the choices you have NOW
-Offer options
-Carry tokens to remind you of peaceful comforting things/people
-Create and use mental safe places (beach, cabin in the woods, peaceful mountain)
-Get out on your own, get away from the stress
-Help someone around you (reach out on a bulletin board, newsgroup, phone list etc.)
-Pay attention to the changes needed to make you feel safe
-Count yourself down (10...9...8...7...)
-Take a different perspective (different vantage point)
-"I'm aware" Repeat 5 things you see, smell, touch, taste in your present surroundings to help ground you in the present
-Pay attention to your breathing (breath slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth)
-Pay attention to the rhythmic motions of your body (walking, stretching, etc.)
-Move to music
-ASK FOR HELP
-Ask yourself inside, what YOU need
-Make affirmation tapes inside you that are good, kind, gentle (Sometimes you can do this by writing down the negative thoughts and then physically re-writing them into positive messages)
-Keep a journal
-Touch Something familiar/safe
-Draw
-Put your feet firmly on the floor
-Make something (craft, needlework, etc.)
-Accept a gift from a friend
-Meditate
-Make a phone list of people you can call for support. Allow yourself to use it
-Learn HALT signals (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)
-Identify what is causing you pain
-Accept where you are in the process. Beating yourself up, only makes it worse.
-Do something FUN!!!
-Take a break from mental processing
-Take a SAFE risk
-Tear up paper (old phonebooks, newspapers, etc.)
-Honor your present anger
-Lose the "should-could-have to" words. Try... "What if"
-Choose your way of thinking, try to resist following old thinking patterns
-Put memories in air tight containers with air tight lids
-Notice black and white thinking
-Connect with others around you. Call a therapist or friend.
-Notice "choices" versus "dilemmas"
-Keep in touch with others who are fighting the same fight
-Check in with yourself and others frequently (try not to isolate)
-Make yourself as comfortable as possible (Without using food)
-Take a bath or a shower
-Color in coloring books
-Hold a stuffed animal
-Write a poem
-Leave the room
-Leave the premises
-Write a letter, NOT mailed, to the person or problem upsetting you
-Play a musical instrument
-Plan regular activities for your most difficult time of day
-Call a hotline or support group
-Listen to a comedy tape or video
-Reality check old messages (Those you supply and those you hear others tell you)
-Clean the house
-Get out a fine tooth comb and vigorously brush the fur of a stuffed animal (but use gentle vigor )
-Pull weeds in a garden
-Plant flowers
-Come to this web site

I "borrowed" this off of www.selfinjury.net

Yes, I posted these in another post, I don't know how effective they are, and some are similar to jet's list:

Stay in a public place
Be with safe and supportive people
Call a friend
Write in a journal
Watch a funny movie
Go for a drive
Do relaxation exercises
Do deep breathing
Listen to music
Read a good book
Go for a walk
Clean a closet, a dresser, the kitchen
Take a bubble bath
Go shopping
Wear a rubber band around one wrist and when the urge to harm is
strong, snap it lightly
Hold ice in your hand (sounds strange, but it works)
With a washable red marker, make marks where you want to hurt
yourself. This sometimes helps, especially if you like to see the blood.
Most importantly, get rid of anything you could hurt yourself with

From Student Center

I try to give attention to the feelings that make me want to cut and then nurture myself and acknowledge those feelings. It may not make the feeling go away immediately, but it may tell my mind that next time i experience those feelings that I can just self-nurture instead of cut. Good luck and take care of yourself.

But what happens if you have a strong urge to cut but you have no reason to feel that way? There are no feelings that make you want to cut other than feeling depressed?

i have that ALL the freakin' time-i want to cut b/c i haven't.

Hmm, I got out the pins because I wrote my T that I hadn't, and then read what I wrote, and it reminded me. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be a good reason. Maybe it's habit, or the feelings are just deeper and not on the surface, so you don't know what's behind it.

Silver, I totally understand. You might try keeping a journal and commit to writing 5 mintues about everything you can think of when you feel the urge to cut. Do that for several weeks. Then categorize some of the events that make you want to cut. For instance -- your triggers may be situations that make you feel lonley, rejected, confused, trapped, frustrated/angry, sad, etc. You may start to see a common theme. I hope that helps. Even though the first thing in your mind may seem to be nothing. If you write down your thoughts, it may be more apparent. Let me know if that helps.

Thanks, I will try that
not today though, since i already si-ed

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