How can you replace self-harm with another activity?
33 Answers
Last Updated: 06/08/2021 at 3:46am
Perfect therapy for people who need help. I would like to say, I never can imagine it could be possible to heal people like that
Ta
Tania
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Johanna Liasides, MSc, PhDc
Psychologist
I work with youth and young adults to help them improve depressive symptoms and self-esteem as well as effectively address family, relationship and peer conflicts.
Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
July 6th, 2015 9:28am
You can try painting on your arms or legs instead, or writing down your thoughts. Listening to your favorite songs or bands and doing yoga can also help!
Anonymous
May 29th, 2015 6:43pm
listen to music or you can draw. do something to distract yourself from what you are feeling. blocking out the urges helps.
It can help to write a list of 3-5 activities you would like to try next time instead of harming. Keep the list with you or in a place you will see it when you are triggered. Try to use the skill BEFORE you are significantly triggered. Once you use the skill, evaluate how you feel. Did it help a bit? a lot? none? in what way did or didn't it help? Keep track of various skills you try over time and look for patterns. What skills help for what feelings? (what helps when you are sad, anxious, overwhelmed, angry, numb...?) It is very hard to use distractions at the beginning, but only by continually trying will you see any progress. Know you will probably still harm sometimes - that's ok. Ask yourself - why didn't I use a distraction this time? Looking back, was there an earlier time I might've used a coping skill and prevented, delayed, or reduced my harm? Forgive yourself for the times you harm, and keep working on recovery. It's along journey sometimes, but it is 100% possible to start using coping skills more frequently and easily.
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