Self-Harm

What is self-harm?

• Self-Harming is a negative and dangerous way to deal with difficult situations, feelings, and emotional pain.  Self-harm includes anything you do to intentionally injure yourself.  It is a serious health issue, especially if it occurs repetitively.

Alternatives self-Harming:

• Paint, draw, or scribble on a big piece of paper with red ink or paint

• Start a journal in which to express your feelings

• Compose a poem or song to say what you feel

• Write down any negative feelings and then rip the paper up

• Listen to music that expresses what you’re feeling

• Take a bath or hot shower

• Pet or cuddle with a dog, cat or animal

• Wrap yourself in a warm blanket

• Massage your neck, hands, and feet

• Listen to music

• Call a friend (you don’t have to talk about self-harm)

• Talk to a trusted adult

• Hold an ice cube in the crook of your arm or leg

• Chew something with a very strong taste, like chili peppers, peppermint, or a grapefruit peel

• Go online to a self-help website

• Read a book

• Exercise —run, dance, jump rope, hit a punching bag, or go for a walk

• Punch a cushion or mattress or scream into your pillow

• Squeeze a stress ball or squish Play-Doh or clay

• Rip something up (sheets of paper, a magazine)

• Make some noise (play an instrument, bang on pots and pans)

Substitutes for the cutting sensation

• Use a red marker pen to draw on your skin where you might usually cut.

• Rub ice cubes over your skin where you might usually cut.

• Place rubber bands on your wrists, arms, or legs, and snap them instead of cutting.

The information above is courtesy of Help Guide International.

Helpful Links:

• https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/problems-disorders/self-harm 

• https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/resisting-cutting.html 

• http://sioutreach.org/