Coping with self harm

@HateMyself2016 Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you're going through this, we recently had a thread about a similar topic that you might find enlightening, you can access it here:

https://member.carenity.co.ukhttps://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/other-discussions/living-with-behavioural-disorders-mental-illne/is-it-appropriate-to-ask-to-see-someones-cutss-2701

Do any members have any advice? 

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Well I'll chime in here, some positive distractions away from self harm,

if your alone: colour in adult colouring books, watch movies, squeeze stress balls, listen to music/sing, watch youtube videos, draw on yourself with a red pen, research a topic that interests you, do a hobby like collecting coins or stamps, go out for a walk, scream into a pillow, chew a chew ring necklace, pull apart playdoh, or blutack, make a ball from elastic bands, do some arts or crafts, make a jigsaw puzzle, look for positive affirmations or quotes, talk to a friend, family member, or someone else you trust, come here to Carenity, find out what's new, Use phone or Online Apps to distract you, search for support groups in your area, where you can meet like minded people 

in a group: Play throw the dolly, it's a word association game, where one person starts by saying a word, then throwing the dolly to someone else in the room, that person then has to say a word associated with the previous word. Play the game, Nearest thing to you with the colour ??? or Play I spy with my little eye ??? Play Board Games, like Monopoly 

if you have money: Go to the cinema, Go to an ice-cream parlour, Go out for a meal, Go on a holiday (break from the norm), Treat yourself to a shopping trip.

Weather Dependent: Go to The Park, Go to The Beach etc.

Something else that can help not so much as a distraction, is meditation, but this has to be done in steps, as to effectively meditate you first have to empty your mind, a technique I've been taught by a friend, who's a Buddhist Monk, and seems to work for me, to empty my mind.

Sit cross legged or upright if possible, close your eyes, breathe in deeply, and on the breath in, visualise a sunrise, whilst saying sunrise, and then on your breath out, visualise a sunset, whilst saying sunset, do this for at least 10 minutes, after some time and practice, I've found it does work, to empty my thoughts, as all I can think of is the peace, associated with the sun rising and setting, then all you need to do is put on some calm music to remain in that meditative state, I'm not saying this will work for everybody, but maybe it is worth a try, I like it, so thought I'd share it with you 😊

I used to self harm when I was younger I used to pull lumps of hair out and so nobody noticed I use to use a eyeliner pencil to cover it up because if my mum had seen it, it would have upset her and she had enough to worry about with my dad being in a mental hospital but I use to do self harming because of being bullied because of just having one parent with me and because of my dad being in his mental hospital I was bullied 24/7 from being a child in a kindergarten school till I left at age 15 that is why I self harm Tigger x

hello I have been suffering with severe depression and anxiety for a long time now as well as chronic lower back pain and nerve damage to my left leg. But I had to give up my car a few months ago as I could not afford to fix it or pay for the petrol and insurance, my GP retired and a new one took over and since he has he won't give me my prescriptions without seeing me whereas my old doctor knew me and knew I needed them and if I could not get in to her she would send the prescription to my pharmacist for me. But there is no public transport between my home and the GP's and I have told him this multiple times and so he won't give me a prescription, it would cost me €60 return trip in a taxi at least to get to him and I don't have it. So I have been off my antidepressants as well as my anti-inflammatories and painkillers, I am in agony almost all the time and I am really really down and have started cutting again, but the last few days have been the worst and I am really thinking that my son and family would be better off without me and that I would not be such a waste of space