Some of the following suggestions may help you to control your self-harming behaviour:
- Keep a diary of your self-harm making a note of the situations, thoughts and feelings which triggered it. This may help you to understand it better.
- Keep away from things you may use to harm yourself
- Delay or distract: do something that will take your mind of self-harm or delay the act for example reading a magazine, watching TV, listening to music, go for a walk, finding some company
- Think of alternative non-harmful ways of managing your feelings. You may want to write a list of things to try. This may include:
- Talking to someone you trust
- Writing down or drawing/painting your feelings
- Doing some exercise (go for a run, swim, dance, run up and down the stairs)
- Relaxation and breathing exercises
- Shout out loud ‘no’ or ‘stop’
If you feel you must hurt yourself:
- Try less destructive ways of doing it. For example:
- Pinching yourself instead of harming your skin,
- Rub an ice-cube where you were tempted to harm yourself
- Put an elastic band around your wrist and flick it when you feel like harming yourself
If you have taken an overdose you should attend your local A&E department or GP immediately. There are no safe limits for an overdose.