How to deal with self-harm alone?

You should never have to deal with self-harm alone; there is always someone out there in a similar position as you and there are so many of us on 7cups for the same reason; to guide people through the correct path and to give them that extra boost to overcome their problems. Don't feel like you have to deal with self-harm alone; because we're all here for you :)

I have self-harmed before and i can tell you its not easy to stop but it is manageable something you can do when you feel the need to is snap a hairtir on your wrist because it doesnt leave cars or marks but still gives you the pain and release factor

You will never fight a battle alone, there will always be people to help you fight it, know that you are better than it, that you don't need it. It is damaging not only to your own state, but to others around you as well. Consider your friends, your family, would they really want you to hurt yourself? If you think you are alone, know you are not. Don't be afraid to contact a therapist, they are not there to judge you for anything. They are there to help you!

Make a strict safety plan for yourself when you feel like you want to self-harm. There are a lot of alternatives to help you step away from self harm and move towards healthier coping methods. Examples would be: slapping an elastic band on your arm/hand, writing on yourself with a pen, holding ice in your hand, clapping your hands together hard. You can try to reach out to people and talk about something completely unrelated, so you're distracting yourself from the urges without having to tell the person that that's what you're doing. Go for a walk in a public place. Don't be too hard on yourself, just try your best!

Dealing with self-harm alone is not easy, or course. However, understanding that is it not the best way to cope with events/life, etc is the first step of dealing with self-harm. Dealing with the visible scars of your actions is a consistent reminder of what one is doing to themselves. It helps to redirect that urge to get wanting to harm yourself onto a more positive and healthy way to cope like exercising, drawing, writing, etc.

First of all, you have reasons to self-harm, pinpoint them! Don't be afraid to analyse your feelings, what is going on? What makes you do this? Secondly, you should not enclose yourself in depreciation and guilt, you did self-harm, you had your reasons, but this is not the solution. So you must be kind with yourself, reduce the times you hurt yourself slowly. Talk to someone who will help without judging (7 cups is there for you). Eventually, when you're in crisis, breath, analyse the situation, accept yourself, do not approach anything that can help you hurting yourself. Try to replace the self-harm by something else (pinch an elastic around your wrist, draw where you want to cut etc...), keep your mind occupied. And when you overcome an urge, reward yourself! Eat your favourite meal, watch a movie... Stay strong and safe :)

I think the best to deal with self-harm is to bear in mind that everything is temporary. Pain, loneliness or the numbness you feel will pass by, and you will start feeling great again

I think you should always reach out to someone as a support system. Wether it be a hotline, a family member or friend, you shouldn't have to go through anything alone!

I have always tried to distract myself. The moment I think about self-harm, i urge myself to list why I should not harm myself, and why it is only making things worse. I have a list of things I can do to distract myself from self harming, and persons to contact to self harm, so the worst urge is gone.

There is no direct way to deal with self-harm, especially when there are so many different types of people who do it and for so many different reasons. There are strategies to help try to prevent you from self harming such as drawing or focusing on music to draw your mind away from whatever may cause you to harm yourself. It is important to remember that self-harm isn't just cutting and that it comes in many forms, so if you search for methods to help, make sure it will be a method that will suit you for prevention. It's so important to try to see the best in days, which granted is far easier said than done but if you alone, it's really up to your own strength within to help. You are stronger than you realise.