YOU'RE NOT ALONE

Alternatives for when you're feeling guilty, sad, or lonely

Congratulate yourself on each minute you go without self-harming Draw or paint Look at the sky Instead of punishing yourself by self-harming, punish yourself by not self-harming Call a friend and ask for company Buy a cuddly toy Give someone a hug with a smile Put a face mask on Watch a favorite TV show or movie Eat something ridiculously sweet Remember a happy moment and relive it for a while in your head Treat yourself to some chocolate Try to imagine the future and plan things you want to do Look at things that are special to you Compliment someone else Make sculptures Watch fish YouTube funny videos! Let yourself cry Play with a pet Have or give a massage Imagine yourself living in a perfect home and describe it in your mind If you're religious, read the bible or pray Light a candle and watch the flame (but please be careful) Go chat in the chat room Allow yourself to cry; crying is a healthy release of emotion Accept a gift from a friend Carry tokens to remind you of peaceful comforting things/people Take a hot bath with bath oil or bubbles Curl up under a comforter with hot cocoa and a good book Make affirmation tapes inside you that are good, kind, gentle (Sometimes you can do this by writing down the negative thoughts and then physically re-writing them into positive messages) Make a tray of special treats and tuck yourself into bed with it and watch TV or read Write words in the sand for them to be washed away

Alternatives that will hopefully make you think twice about harming yourself:

Remember that you don't have to hurt yourself just because you're thinking about self-harm Create a safe place to go Acknowledge that self-harm is harmful behavior: say "I want to hurt myself" rather than "I want to cut" Repeat to yourself "I don't deserve to be hurt" even if you don't believe it Remember that you always have the choice not to cut it's up to you what you do Think about how you may feel guilty after self-harming Remind yourself that the urge to self-harm is impulsive: you will only feel like cutting for short bursts of time Avoid temptation Get your friends to make you friendship bracelets: wear them around your wrists to remind you of them when you want to cut Be with other people Make your own list of things to do instead of self-harm Make a list of your positive character traits Be nice to your family, who in return, will hopefully be nice to you Put a band-aid on the area where you'd like to self-harm Recognize and acknowledge the choices you have NOW Pay attention to the changes needed to make you feel safe Notice "choices" versus "dilemmas" Lose the "should-could-have to" words. Try... "What if" Kiss the places you want to SH or kiss the places you have healing wounds. It can be a reminder that you care about myself and that you don't want this Choose your way of thinking, try to resist following old thinking patterns The Butterfly project- draw a butterfly on the place(s) that you would self-harm and if the butterfly fades without self-harming, it means it has lived and flown away, giving a sense of achievement. Whereas if you do self-harm with the butterfly there; you will have to wash it off. If that does happen, you can start again by drawing a new one on. You can name the butterfly after someone you love. Write the name of a loved one [a friend, family member, or anyone else who cares about you] and write their name where you want to self-harm. When you go to self-harm remember how much they care and wouldn't want you to harm yourself. think about what you would say to a friend who was struggling with the same things you are and try to be a good friend to yourself. Make a bracelet out duct tape and put a line on it every day (Or any period of time) you go without self-harm. When it's full of lines, take it off and make a chain out of all the bracelets and hang it up somewhere where you can be reminded of your great progress.