After

[Paige1989]

Questions to Answer After A Slip
slips are chances to learn. you figure out what stresses are still too hard for you and you can work on how you'll deal with them next time you run into them. so instead of beating yourself up, take action.


* have you taken care of your physical wounds? if not, go do that now. we'll wait.
Yes, I took care of them.

* what had happened just before?
Huge ass argument between my 12 y/o brother and my mom...really upset me.

* what were you thinking and feeling?
I seriously want to just die. This is going to ruin everything. How can he be so selfish to ruin Mom's evening, and whole Christmas season??? How can I fix this???

* why did you end up hurting yourself then instead of some other time? was there an event that was the final straw? what was it?
The argument was the final straw after a week of no SI.

* how did the situation get to the final straw stage? trace it back through the events that led up to the last event. look for some point at which you could have made a different decision and not arrived at the final straw.
Little things were already stressing me out, but the yelling and cursing threw me over the edge.

* were there outside factors like drugs, alsohol, being off your meds, lack of sleep, etc? can you address those in the future? how?
I'm always lacking sleep...sorta working on that...and I've been off my meds for a while - working on getting back on track with those...

* what other ways of coping did you try besides self-harm? how well did they work?
I was going to post a Before, but Mom needed the computer. I tried watching TV to calm down, but I kept dwelling...

* in retrospect, are there coping methods that you now realize might have helped? what were they?
I could've tried reading, or writing on paper to post later...it was too late to call someone.

* name at least two things you will do to help yourself remember those coping methods if you end up in this situation again.
...

* how do you feel about the situation that led to self-harm now? is it resolved? if not, what are some steps you might take toward resolution?
The situation resolved itself. I had nothing to do with it really, and I feel bad for SIing because I was just a bystander - not even really involved in the argument and once Mom and my brother calmed down, they had a rational discussion and things settled...

* are you likely to be in that emotional place again? how will you recognize it when you're in that situation?
Probably at some point. I'm not sure...

* what will you try before you resort to self-harm if you're in that situation again? list three specific things you will commit to trying.
Reading. Talking to people. Writing.


About Opportunities to SI
Opportunity to Self-Harm seems to be a common theme. Think about why opportunities are important to slips and learn why opportunity is important to you.


* What made that opportunity more appealing than any other?
I was so upset and frustrated - I had easy access to my tools.

* Did you make an opportunity or was it there for the taking?
It was there for the taking...

* What would you have done if there was no opportunity, how would you have handled your urge?
I would've created an opportunity, probably.

* If there had been no opportunity would your urge to self-harm have increased or decreased?
Increased, I think.

* What consitutes opportunity for you? Being alone? having new tools? waiting for the right feeling?
Waiting for the right feeling...being alone...having new tools...having tools in easy access...

* If your opportunties were taken away, how would you feel?
Really upset and stressed out. Probably would find a way to create opportunities to substitute real ones...