What can i do instead of hurting myself?

Instead of hurting yourself, you can think of alternate ways. For example, what I did was that instead of literally hurting myself, I put the razor away, and snapped rubber bands on my wrists, that way they stung for a little while, and left a mark for a little while, but they weren't always going to be there and I didn't regret it later, because the pain was only temporary and stayed for the time I wanted it to. Instead of hurting yourself, go for a walk, draw your feelings, or anything that will keep you away from hurting yourself.

You can listen to music, read a book, watch youtube or use ice on the place/s you'd like to harm. This will bring pain without actually scarring yourself or bringing real pain. Drawing on yourself will help too.

instead of hurting yourself you can get a red pen and draw lines where you want to hurt or you can draw butterflies of your love ones and if you cut them then they die.

Instead of harming yourself, try drawing on your body. Draw flowers, swirls or patterns. It helps.

I usually like to start doing something that keeps my mind and hands busy. Playing the piano, playing volleyball, knitting, etc.

Find another outlet like screaming in to a pillow, ripping paper or something calmer like writing songs/stories, drawing art, playing an instrument or even writing a letter to someone (you may not give it to them) and express yourself.

One thing I've been told to do instead of hurting myself is to slowly take baby steps toward helping yourself. When I was in the hospital they gave me a rubber band to wear and said that whenever I feel like self harming to pull back the band as far as I could and snap my wrist. The point of it is yes, you are still hurting yourself, but it's not going to leave a scar there forever. Then they said to slowly work away from hurting yourself. Use a smaller rubber band, then don't pull it back as far, then just flick your wrist with your fingers and so on until you are actually doing something to help yourself rather than hurt yourself. It takes time and patience to get used to it but eventually it really helps.

You can talk to someone, exercise, write, sing, dance, anything you enjoy really. Being physically active is helpful to some people, being mentally active is more helpful for others, explore different things and find what works best for you. There is a free app you can download called "calmharm" it helps you relax and fight the urge to self harm.

There are a few things. First of all, you can use one of the self-harm replacement techniques, when the urge to self-harm is really strong and you are unable to otherwise distract yourself: (1) holding an ice-cube on your skin or in your fist, for as long as is needed; (2) snapping a rubber wrist band on your skin; (3) drawing on your skin with a red marker. The first two will give you some sensation of pain, but will not seriously physically harm you, whereas the latter option will somewhat distract you and give the illusion of self-harm without actually hurting you. Another thing to do, if possible, is to distract yourself by doing other therapeutic things that you may find calming: (1) try journaling - let all of your feelings out on paper; (2) draw/paint - similarly to journaling, try to channel your feelings at the time on a piece of paper or a canvas; (3) go for a walk or a brief run - this will help to clear your mind and get those endorphins flowing; (4) talk to someone / be in somebody's company - not only will this make self-harming impossible for the moment (as you will not be alone), it can truly calm you down and shift your mood for the better.

There are many things you can do instead of self harm. You can write in a journal, about how you feel or whatever you want. You can listen to music to help calm and soothe you. You can paint how you feel, even if that means you just scribble on a piece of paper. Draw on yourself, some people find it soothing to draw on themselves. Take a relaxing bath, cuddle with a pet. You can call a friend (you don't have to talk about self harm). Take a cold shower, rub ice on your skin. Exercise it may seem weird but it can help. Last but not least reach out and ask for help. It's okay to ask for help.