anyone with stories to share?
hello all, i kind of want to hear some perspectives or stories on how some of yall stopped sh, i want to stop but idk how its become "fun" or normalised and i'm at least not doing that bad of a method and idk if i feel bad for myself at this point
id take some advice too
@th3agle
Thank you for reaching out, fr. It takes a lot of courage to reach out.
I first done it when I was 6 yrs old...
Its been pretty bad over the past faw months.
But here are some strategies I found useful;
- Writing my own prevention plan, you can find more about it by click here.
- The No Harm Agreement. My therapist asked me to assign one, its like, setting a promise that you will not injury yourself deliberately at all circumstances and if you are having urges, you can phone your therapist, a trusted family member or a understanding friend.
Its like obligated...
I hope you may find my reply helpful and learn to take better care of yourself, buddy.
Best wishes
thanks for sharing your own story and some advice, but every time i try to stop the urges come back like crazy and i end up doing something i regret down the road and honestly i'd want to have someone to share about my own urges but it feels off, my friends don't care even brushing it off and asking nonsensical questions, talking to my immediate family about this won't end up very good because i "promised" i wouldn't harm myself again but nonetheless thanks for your input imma try to keep myself together a bit longer
@th3agle
I got that. The urges are overwhelming .🙁
Is there anything you like to do besides sh? Activities like drawing, watch drama or maybe playing video games?
What are the triggers? (lists them out and try to avoid them in the short run)
What are the alternatives of sh? (e.g use a red marker and outline the place you used to injure yourself, use a rubber band and flick it...)
tbh i don't exactly have a lot of things to do so i devote my time to scouting so i don't have so much intrusive thoughts. i've tried to ignore them as a coping method but i see it didn't go very well and made everything worse so yeah. . i'll write out my own triggers and the like for myself later. thanks for the advice.
Hello there, I'd like to share my experience and some tips I've gathered...
I started sh at the age of 11, throughout the years, the urge has been going on and off at different intensities, I had been "clean" for 3 or so years until this last one, that urge came back, showing itself in the form of punches to the legs and the head.
I finally decided to talk about this with a friend some months ago, ofc she got worried but she offered me the hand and support that I needed. Sometimes, when things get rough and I start getting desperate and/or blame myself, I talk to her and that soothes me, so talking to someone you trust about this is one of my first recommendations.
Even so, the situation can be so harsh that we need other resources, and that is okay, here is a list of some of those.
[ ] Sit on your hands
[ ] Bite a stick for quitting smoking
[ ] Lifting weights
[ ] Hitting
[ ] A pillow
[ ] A mattress
[ ] A punching bag
[ ] A stuffed animal
[ ] Ripping paper
[ ] Throwing things that wont break
[ ] Bouncing empty milk jugs
[ ] Squeeze an ice cube
[ ] Stress relief balls
[ ] Chewy necklaces
[ ] Snapping a rubber band
[ ] Ussing an open palm instead of a fist
[ ] Squeeze a hair brush and let the spikes dig into your palm
[ ] Spiky hard massage ball against arms/legs
[ ] Progressive muscle relaxation
Here is an audio guide to PMR
You can try out as much options as you like, everyone is different and different things can help us overcome this urge. Even with these suggestions I've had my downfalls, and there's nothing to be ashamed of in that. This is a rough path, struggling is part of it, but be proud of yourself, because you are here, looking for advice, because you haven't given up even if you've maybe felt like you can't take it anymore.
If you go a day without sh congratulations, 2 days, great job, a week or more, fabulous! And if you fall, it's ok, you'll get up again, I know you are capable of it.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey, and remember you don't have to go through this on your own.