Alternatives to Self-Harm
Courtesy of xoxo1234
1. ASK FOR HELP
2. Squeeze ice HARD in your hand or put it on your skin. This causes the pain and intense sensation of cutting, but does not leave scars.
3. Punch a pillow or something else soft.
4. Scream (not at someone, just sort of a Tarzan yell.) Or, i f no one's around, I've found that screaming
obscenities (!) also seems to work.
5. Draw with red pen or marker on your skin in the areas you want to cut.
6. Cry. Crying can release the pent up emotions better than cutting yourself can.
7. Exercise; go to the gym, walk your dog, or play a sport that requires a lot of energy. Both exercise and cutting release endorphins, the body's natural "feel-good" chemicals, but exercise e is a far healthier "high."
8. Try not to be alone. Call a friend, talk to them (not even necessarily about what's bothering you), be with people, or call your therapist or a hot-line like 1-800-DON'T-CUT
9. Do something that you enjoy and that requires focus (to take your mind OFF your desire to cut.
10. Be nice to yourself. Take a hot bath, read a favorite book, watch a movie you enjoy.
11. Remind yourself that you are loved and that your loved ones would not want you to harm yourself.
12. Pray, if you're religious. Faith, no matter what faith it is, can help through life's darkest times.
13. Listen to music (something relaxing)
14. Reach out to people ( online, volunteer work, etc.)
15. If a certain person or situation is upsetting you, leave the room, leave the premises, get away from whoever or whatever is bothering you.
16. Tear up paper
17. Throw ice cubes against a wall.
18. Write in a journal.
19. Meditate.
20. Give yourself a mental "break."
21. Putting on fake tattoos
22. Scribbling on sheets and sheets of paper
23. Writing (poetry, stories, journal, etc.)
24. Cuddling with a stuffed animal
25. Watching a favorite TV show (preferable a comedy)
26. Posting on web boards, and answering others' posts
27. Thinking about how I DON'T want scars for the summer
28. Painting your nails
29. Going to see a movie
30. Eating something ridiculously sweet (or any favorite food)
31. Doing school work
32. Surf the net
33. Go into chat rooms to talk
34. Play a musical instrument
35. Sing
36. Look up at the sky (especially if it's night-time)
37. Punch a punching bag
38. Shoot rubber-bands across the room
39. Cover yourself with band-aids where you want to cut
40. Mix warm water and red food coloring, and put it on your skin
41. Sleep if you're tired
42. Play with a pet
43. Detangle yarn or necklaces
44. Reorganize your room
45. Clean
46. Have a pillow-fight with the wall
47. Knit or Sew
48. Dress up very glamorous
49. Color your hair
50. Watch a candle burn (AS LONG as you can trust yourself near flames)
51. Color your hair
52. Watch a scary movie
53. Have a vivid fantasy love affair with a celebrity
54. Work on a website
55. Go somewhere very public
56. Bake
57. Alphabetize your CDs
58. Chew leather
59. Hugs :]
60. Write a letter or e-mail
61. Talk to yourself
62. Stroke nice fabrics
63. Hug a Pillow
64. Hyper-focus on something like a rock, hand, etc.
65. Dance
66. Pop bubble-wrap
67. Make hot chocolate
68. Play with modelling clay or Play - Dough
69. Count to one hundred
70. Hug yourself
71. Pop balloons
72. Build a pillow fort
73. Complete something you've been putting off
74. Drink absurd amounts of tea
75. Break plastic plates
76. Tear up socks
77. Throw socks against the wall
78. Cook a meal
79. Go out for ice cream
80. Look at pretty things like flowers or artwork
81. Randomly wave at people
82. Make a list of blessings in your life
83. Watch an old, happy movie
84. Throw a temper tantrum
85. Hit things (other than yourself)
86. Go for a bicycle ride
87. Draw on the walls
88. Play with face-paint. If you want, you can paint over the areas you want to hurt as a distraction.
89. Do very glamorous make-up
90. Color with crayons
91. Memorize a song
92. Put on boots and stamp
93. Stretch
94. Come up with baby names
95. Burn a CD of all your favorite songs
96. Name all of your stuffed animals
97. Get into your PJ's and just veg.
98. Play the 15 minute game: Say you can't cut for 15 minutes, then when the time is up, start again
99. Plan your wedding
100. Hunt for stuff on Ebay
101. Alphabetize your books
102. Try to make as many words out of your full name as possible
103. Count ceiling tiles
104. Color co-ordinate your wardrobe
105. Scribble over the pretty woman in magazines
106. Play with a slinky
107. Play video/computer games
108. Write yourself an 'I love you because' letter
109. Put on fake nails
110. Go to a public place and people watch
111. Smile at at least five people
112. Go to the zoo and rename all the animals
113. Deep breathing.
114. Relaxation techniques
115. Take a hot bath
116. Go for a walk
117. If you tend to have decent runs of not self injuring, then fail and do it, do a tally. Write 'days I self injured' in one column, and 'days I didn't' in the other. At the end of every day, draw a line in either column, depending on it you self injured or not that day. Over time, those tallys in the 'didn't SI' box will grow, making you feel better.
118. Scratch draw a picture on a thick piece of wood or use a scre driver and stab at the peice of wood.
119. Work with paint, clay, play-dough, etc. The person who suggested this mentioned that they would make a big sculpture and do whatever they wanted to it. They said it was helpful to calm the urge to self-injure, plus it gave them some idea of what might be underlying the pain. You can also stab the play-dough, throw it at the walls, punch it, squeeze it hard etc.
120. Draw a picture of what or who is making you angry.
121. Write a letter to the person who's making you feel this way if there is one. You don't ever have to send it, but just writing it down helps work stuff out.
122. Instead of harming yourself, try massaging the area you want to harm with massage oils or creams, reminding yourself that you are special and you deserve to treat yourself with love and respect.
123. Wear a pipe cleaner or something that will fit on the places that you injure. One person did this as a way to remind herself that she could call someone instead of hurting herself and that she had other ways to cope.
124. Break, bury, or throw away the object that you use to self-injure as a way to show that you have control over it.
125. Try some sewing, crossstitch, etc.
126. Recite a poem, prayer, or anything else familiar that comforts you, multiple times.
127. Write down all of your positive points and why you do not desrve to be hurt. Keep it to refer to in the future.
128. Yoga
129. Take a shower
130. Write down a word best associated with what you are feeling (ie. horrible, sad, lonely, angry) and continue to write it down, over and over. Sometimes when you do that, the words look silly etc., and it puts humor or a smile in your life.
131. Sing a song on what you are feeling.
132. Take item you are self injuring with and use it against something else. For example, if you are using a razor, blade, rip it across a towel.
133. Make a list of reasons why you are going to stop cutting.
134. Every time you get the urge, read the list to remind yourself why you shouldn't.
135. Also remember to put on that list that you do not deserve to hurt yourself. You are important and special and you do not deserve to be hurt.
136. Make a list of friends you can call.
137. Focus on what is real and around you right then. There is no such thing as the past or the future - only the now!
138. Be aware of the world - say to yourself what you see (The couch is green. The light is on. I can feel my shoe pinching my foot.)
139. Make a contract with someone you care about and who cares about you. You don't have to 'know' them in the real world -Internet friends are fine. Make sure you try to get in touch with them when you feel unsafe.
140. Create an internal safe place where you can go. In a time when you feel safe and secure, create a room or a garden or any safe area inside yourself where you can retreat to and get away from external stresses. Add as many detials as you can to make it real for you.
141. Get a warm drink and curl up in a warm place with a stuffed animal. Buy yourself a special stuffed toy if you do not already have one. Make yourself some tea or hot chocolate and curl up under a nice warm comforter or blanket with lots of pillows.
142. Have a bath and finger paint with ketchup.
143. Try not to be hard on yourself for feeling this way. Try not to beat yourself up inside by calling yourself names or expecting yourself to just "not feel this way" or "snap out of it". This interanl namecalling and self-verbal abuse will only make you feel worse.
144. Tell yourself how you feel now will not last forever. It is hard to remember that while you are in the midst of these feelings, but EVERYTHING changes. Just focus on you and what you need to do to get through these feelings as safely as you can.
145. Use a toothbrush instead of a razor.
146. Slash an empty plastic soda bottle or a piece of heavy cardvoard or an old shirt or sock.
147. Make a soft cloth doll to represent the things you are angry at. Cut and tear it instead of yourself.
148. Flatten aluminum cans for recycling, seeing how fast you can go.
149. Use a pillow to hit a wall, pillow-fight style.
150. Rip up an old newspaper or phone book.
151. On a sketch or photo of yourself, mark in red ink what you want to do.
152. Cut and tear the picture.
153. Break sticks.
154. Slap a tabletop hard with another object.
155. Clap hard.
156. Take a cold bath or immerse your arm/leg into icy water.
157. Play a difficult computer game.
158. Choose an object in the room. Examine it carefully and then write as detailed a description of it as you can. Include everything: size, weight, texture, shape, color, possible uses, feel, etc.
159. Take a small bottle of liquid red food coloring and warm it slightly by dropping it into a cup of hot water for a few minuts. Uncap the bottle and press its tip against the place you want to cut. Draw the bottle in a cutting motion while squeezing it slightly to let the food color trickle out.
160. Scratch with a sharp, ball-point, inkless pen on your skin.
161. Attach bull-clips to your skin.
162. Go for a drive or ride your bike.
163. Put a pack of frozen peas (or any vegetables) on the area where you want to self harm.
164. Create a Neopet.
165. Plan your next vacation as do as much of it as you can online. You don't have to book anything but plan as much as you can right down to the smallest detail.
165. Buy yourself a special plant and take extra-special care of it.
166. Go through magazines and catalogues and cut out all of the words that make you feel good.
167. Start at one page on the internet and follow all the links from that page and see how far away from the original subject you can get - try following links so that you go from depression sites to sites about positive things.
167. Go for a walk and smile at everyone you see. If you are feeling braver, say hello to everyone, too.
168. Do some finger painting with food - ice cream, chocolate pudding, jam, custard... try all sorts of different things.
169. Buy a coloring book and some colored pencils and color away!
170. Pump up the volume of your favorite music and doodle on a peice of paper in time to it.
171. Get together some bottles and go to the bottlebanks. You can throw them in really agressively but it's still safe.

Sources: http://www.geocities.com/self_harm/alternatives.html; http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Cutting-Yourself; http://www.mandysdepression.com/SelfHarmContents.htm

Thanks to the following LiveWire members: Poker Shark, Periwinkle

Note that I've lost a few of the sources I used to compile this list.

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