Guiding Highlights
June 2023: Summer Time!
It's June and that means Pride is here along with the beginning of summer! Scroll all the way down to watch important videos about LGBTQ youth from the Trevor Project.
As we mentioned on the home page, we want you to go out and have fun, get lots of rest and DESTRESS!
Here are some additional tips to help you do this:
Get out and Get Active: Plan at least 60 minutes of exercise into your day, get outside often and try new activities.
Keep up with your nutrition: Try a new recipe, try a new fruit/veggie, drink lots of water to stay hydrated, have a meal with those you consider friends or family.
Take care of your emotional well-being: Sleep, practice positive thinking, include others in activities, talk with someone about your feelings, plant, engage in activities you enjoy.
*We decided to leave the information from the spring edition up because the information below is very important.
TRIGGER WARNING:
Below you will find information on self-harm awareness (which is recognized on March 1st) and healthier alternatives. Remember, you are your greatest achievement so make the investment in taking care of you and your community. The rest will follow.
Recovery is possible, but it’s not always easy. Stopping self-harm often involves building other, healthier, skills and coping strategies, and then practicing these coping strategies when we have an urge to self-harm. Below is a list of different skills and techniques someone may use in order to help them reduce and/or stop their self-harm. It’s important to also consult with your primary health care provider.
Chill Out
Chill Out (Literally): It may sound funny, but cooling yourself down using cold water or ice has been shown to be an effective way to calm down your nervous system in times of crisis.
For example:
Lean over the sink and splash cold water on your face.
Place an icepack on your forehead.
Hold an ice-cube until it melts.
Sit in a shallow bath with cold water (but don’t sit for too long!)
Distract
Distract. An urge to self-harm can feel like it’s going to overpower us, but it won’t last forever. Occupying ourselves with enjoyable or distracting activities can help us ride out the urge, without giving in.
Some ways to distract yourself could be:
Watching a funny movie/TV show.
Engaging in some self-care: Taking a bath, using a facemask.
Doing physical activity: Going for a run, doing yoga, playing a sport.
Spending time with a pet.
Toss your tools
Make your tools harder to access. For example:
Freeze your tools: If you are using something sharp to self-injure, try freezing it in a block of ice.
Lock up your tools: Lock your tools away in a box and give the key to your parents or a trusted friend.
Give the tools up to a parent: Ask them to throw them away for you.
Other
Use henna: Henna is a substance made from leaves that dyes the skin for one to two weeks. You can use it to draw designs or lines on your skin in areas where you may feel the urge to self-harm.
Use technology: In the age of technology, there are several apps that can help manage our emotions and urges right from our phones. For example:
Calm Harm is an app designed specifically to help you manage self-harm urges. You can check out their website here: https://calmharm.co.uk/
Mindshift CBT is an app designed to help manage anxiety, including panic attacks. You can check that out here: https://www.anxietycanada.com/resources/mindshift-cbt/
Breathr is a mindfulness app. Mindful breathing can be a way to calm your emotions down when they feel out of control. You can learn more about Breathr here: https://keltymentalhealth.ca/breathr
Reach out: Reaching out can feel difficult, but for some, talking it out in moments of crisis can be enough to avoid self-harming. Ways to reach out include:
Talk to someone you trust: This might be a friend, partner or family member.
Call a helpline: The following phone lines are all numbers you can call if you feel like you’re going to self-harm and want someone to speak to:
24 Hr Vancouver Crisis Line: 604-872-3311 or 1-866-667-3311
Mental Health Support Line: 310-6789 (do not add 604 or 778 before the number).
Suicide Prevention Centre of BC: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)
Text/talk online: Sometimes it’s much easier to communicate through text or on our computers. You can use the following resources to do so:
Online Chats: Youth In BC: https://youthinbc.com/
Youth Space: https://youthspace.ca/ or text at (778) 783-0177 Online or text chat.. Available between 6:00pm- midnight.
Kids Help Phone: https://kidshelpphone.ca/ or text CONNECT to 686868
Trevor Project invited trans young people from all over the country to share their experiences of growing up and how the people in their lives affected them, affirmed them, or changed them. …
A new roundtable series featuring conversations with LGBTQ young people provides a much-needed platform for young trans and nonbinary voices to share about their personal journeys and explore what genuine allyship looks like among curious, open-minded adults and allies.