Please help, I'm thinking of self harming for the first time in years

[pumpkinsboo]

Please give me some advice.

I used to self harm often (cutting skin) and I haven't done it for years, but lately I find myself thinking about it. Tonight is one of those nights and I'm really trying to talk myself out of it... but as twisted as it sounds, I feel like it will make everything better for a short while.

So sorry to hear this. What can you do instead? What distracts you? Are you on your own?

What made you stop in the first place?

Can you find something to distract yourself, even for a little time. The intensity of this feeling will pass, keep telling yourself that

Keep away from any trigger rooms eg the bathroom
Do a distracting task- search for something online/organise something in the house
If you drive, go for a quiet drive. McDonalds drive through coffee. Play some music.
Take care

Do you have other coping strategies?

The main reason not to for me used to be that the benefit was fairly transient but the physical damage remained and I found it upsetting.

Apparently ice cubes help for some. Hold a cube and see what happens.

You could try a cold shower too apparently that can help because it's impossible to think of anything but the cold!!

If you can identify an underlying feeling or emotion it can help you decide on a distraction technique - E.g if you are angry/frustrated do something energetic to move your body, if you are upset/sad have a good cry and give yourself some tlc or lift your mood with happy music, if you’re feeling spaced out/numb do something sensory to bring you back into the moment - ice cubes, nice smelling hand cream etc, if you’re lonely- call a friend/talk on line or on here. The feeling will pass, set a timer if you need to even for 5-10 minutes so it feels less overwhelming. Sending love, well done for posting

There is an app called Calm Harm..

I have also been feeling this and the app has helped at the peak times. You can keep track etc.

I hope you feel better soon

Please find something to do with your hands that will give you sensory feedback. Try to distract yourself by doing something else, can you do something like collect lots of small sticks and spend time snapping them, scrunch newspaper up really tightly, exfoliate your body. I'm sorry it's so hard but you can continue to control it. X

I do hope something here helped OP