relief without si?

[kate_]

I'm trying to stop cutting. I've gone a week now, 7 days without it. I really hate doing it, it's one of the things I hate most about myself. Anyways, I've read lots of suggestions on how to avoid it...like distractions and stuff. But I was wondering if anyone has found something other than si that gives the same feeling of relief..? That would ease the feeling, instead of distracting from it because it seems to come on more often and stronger. I tried using red markers and drawing on myself instead of cutting, that helped at the time. Has anyone found something like this that isn't to distract from the urge, but to satisfy it without si? I appreciate any help

[mallie]

Doing things that involve a physical sensation can be pretty useful. Strenuous exercise can be good. Gets the heart rate up, and your body releases endorphins (as it does in SI) and that could come closer to satisfying you than distraction-type techniques.

Squeezing ice cubes. Take an ice cube and squeeze it really hard until it melts. It does hurt, but won't harm you.

I vaguely remember something about immersing your face in ice water, and that being able to alter some bodily sensations (I'll PM the person who told me about this one, and see if they can add more sense to this)

Have a look on the "Scarily VAST list" at some of the physical and exercise suggestions.

Different things work for different people. Its worth experimenting until you find something that suits you.

[Koru]

I agree with both mallies suggestions above.

I find that different things help when there are different things making me want to cut. Sometimes drawing how I am feeling helps (usually if I am depressed) otherwise excersise is the only reliable thing that actually gets rid of the urge for me (although ice cubes are a good temporary measure).

As mallie suggested, have a look at the huge list of stratagies, different things work for different people and the same thing won't always work for you all the time but there is a lot out there to try.

Hope you find ways to cope

Take Care

Koru

[splitimage]

Hi there,

First off congratulations on making it 7 days. That's great.

Have you tried to figure out what you are feeling when you want to SI? For me, finding an alternative that really took care of the urge, beyond simply distracting me, although that is useful too, meant figuring out why I wanted to SI. Because if I was sad, different things worked, then if I was primarily angry.

There are some good questions here and on before & after to help you figure that out & it's not easy especially at first, but long term for me at least it was the best way of stopping.

Take care.

--splitimage

[plantt]

*shall ramble on about TIP skills yet again *

Temperature change: eg. fill a bucket with ice water & stick your head in it so that your temples are covered with water... & keep it there for 30 seconds. or take a hot shower
Intense exercise: for 30 minutes. intense enough to raise your heart rate quite a bit
Progressive relaxation: eg. progressive muscle relaxation techniques

the theory being that if you change your bodys physiology temporarily then the urge will decrease
again they're things that aren't 'one size fits all' so it's a matter of playing with them to find things that work for you

they're more for... urges in general... esp if you're unsure what the emotion behind the urge is... or such
like splitimage mentioned though it can also help to find what the emotion is & then use that information to help find actions that will decrease the urge

[VowsOfSadness]

I luv gumbands. Esp. if you may be like me where u feel the need to cut in a specific spot it can be manuvered to hit there. ALso it is descreet (SP I kno) and you put it on your arm and it's always there when you need it so you dont usually have to worry about forgetting it.

[misery]

a good way for me is to identify the triggers that make me want to SI... just write anything and everything, even if it is 'ridiculous'. sometimes, having a night all to yourself is good, as well as spending time with friends. i love listening to agressive, heavy, etc music

[Mindpoison]

I agree with everyone else's suggestions...when I first began therapy and I was trying to stop, every time I got urges to cut I went out and ran for a half hour. With how much I got urges, I ended up running quite a bit. Afterwards I'd get that same exact feeling of relief and relaxation and calmness. Even better: I lost a lot of weight and got in shape doing this, and sometimes instead of getting urges to cut, I actually get urges to go out and run.

Different sensations against my skin help too. I carry around soft, furry little catnip mice that I hold in my palm or rub against my wrists when I'm feeling edgy and it helps to calm me down.