Has anyone successfully stopped self-harming?

[Amberpup9]

If so, please tell me how you managed to stop?

I'm trying so hard, but it's a vicious cycle. The urge is intense, I give in to it, feel a bit better for a while, then the guilt kicks in with hatred for my actions and I start again.

Please can I hear some positive experiences?

I am so sorry you are going through this. I started self harming at about 11, continued into my early 30s, been over 10 years without doing it. Best thing I did was have intensive therapy, for a year, after post natal depression. I still feel the urge at times but it is fleeting and does not consume me. Have you been to the doctors about it? x

H @threadkillerwinechiller Mine started with PND too.

I'm on antidepressants and just started therapy. I hid this behaviour for about a decade, but I've told my GP recently.

I think because I'm so used to using it to cope with life, it's going to be really hard to stop. I'm not sure I can. Was there anything in particular that helped you stop that you learned from your sessions?

I just started being a bit kinder to myself. For my whole life I've felt guilty for everything, blamed myself for things I never should have and now, although my default state is self blame, I try to spend some time to accept not everything is my fault. It's a big internal shift that takes a long time but I also go for walks when I feel the urge, they are more like stomps and I think the energy helps as it releases endorphins/ adrenaline, not too dissimilar to self harming.

Self harm is often a coping mechanism for deeper issues.
Work on those deeper issues.

I went cold turkey. I just stopped one day and whenever I felt like self harming I just didn't do it. It was hard at the start but got easier and nowadays I don't get urges.

Therapy for me. I still feel the urge but literally screaming into a pillow helps, letting it all out with a deep primal roar for however long it takes.

I did slip up once in the last 12 months but used a much milder method that didn’t leave any real damage or scarring.

have seen tips to keep ice in the freezer to touch on your skin, cold shower, elastic band around the wrist.

The self harm indicates a need to punish the self. It might be worth figuring out why you feel you need to be punished.

In the early days you might want to use an elastic band on the wrist or a cold ice cube whilst working on the compulsion to punish.

Or is the compulsion to get relief? If so, sometimes things like intense sports (which can achy and painful) can be a good way to channel that urge.