Cathy's Before Thread

[MovingStranger]

Before You Self-Harm
write down the shadow that's hiding behind the urge. look at it. ask yourself:



how will this situation or feeling change if i hurt myself?

the situation won't change but I'll feel better


what will hurting myself bring to the situation? what will it take away from the situation?

It will bring momentary relief. It may cause the situation to be worse in the long run if my g/f finds out

how do i want to feel about this in the long run? is hurting myself likely to get me closer to or farther from feeling that way?

Further away. It's just a viscious circle.

if hurting myself seems like my best option right now, how long will the relief it brings last? what will i do then?

A few hours. Then I'll want to do it again.

what is something i could do now instead of hurting myself? how will it change the situation i'm in? how long will that change last, and what will i do then?

I could do some breathing exercises, it will calm me for a while

how will i feel tomorrow if i hurt myself? how will i feel tomorrow if i do the other thing i came up with?

If I hurt myself i'll feel anxious and worried I'll be found out. If I do the other thing I will feel happy that I didn't SI

what do i really want to do right now? how can i best honor the self-protective instinct that has me wanting to self-injure right now?

I really want to do something dangerous and damaging. But I don't want to, if that makes sense...



More Before Questions To Answer



Why do I feel I need to hurt myself? What has brought me to this point?

She is with her ex again tonight. We've spoken and argued about it time and time again and she never listens or does anything to change the problem.

Have I been here before? What did I do to deal with it? How did I feel then?

Been here many times, SIed, cried, dissociated. Always felt shit.

What I have done to ease this discomfort so far? What else can I do that won't hurt me?

I'm on here to help. I could go for a drive, or go for a walk


How do I feel right now?

Crap

How will I feel when I am hurting myself?

Better

How will I feel after hurting myself? How will I feel tomorrow morning?

Crap again

Can I avoid this stressor, or deal with it better in the future?

Could try and speak with my g/f again. Or just learn to accept it

Do I need to hurt myself?

No....

[dncn4lyfe77]

I really like your answers. Stay strong and I hope you made it without SI'ing