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Before:

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?
  
  If I hurt myself the situation might ease off, but after I might feel worse.
• what will hurting myself bring to the situation? what will it take away from the situation?
  
  It will bring me some calmness, and will take away the way i'm feeling.
• 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?
  
  I want to feel ok with myself. I don't know if it'll bring me closer or farer away. Both maybe.
• if hurting myself seems like my best option right now, how long will the relief it brings last? what will i do then?
  
  Maybe an hour or two. Then i'll just sleep.
• 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?
  
  Instead of...listen to my iPod. It might calm me down, or take my mind off of this. The change will last for as long as it does. i don't know. However long I can sit still. Then I might end up eating food or I might just take a shower. I think that's a good thing.
• how will i feel tomorrow if i hurt myself? how will i feel tomorrow if i do the other thing i came up with?
  
  Tomorrow if I hurt myself I'll feel ashamed. if I do the others, I might feel just ok.

More Before Questions To Answer

• Why do I feel I need to hurt myself? What has brought me to this point?
  
  I think I have an eating disorder. Or I think I want to have one. I'm just feeling messed up.
• Have I been here before? What did I do to deal with it? How did I feel then?
  
  I've never been here before with these feelings that relate to the ED.
• What I have done to ease this discomfort so far? What else can I do that won't hurt me?
  
  I've posted in my place. And talked to a friend. I can listen to angry music. Or something...
• How do I feel right now?
  
  Fat, and ugly, and horrible.
• How will I feel when I am hurting myself?
  
  blank?
• How will I feel after hurting myself? How will I feel tomorrow morning?
  
  I'll feel ok tonight, but tomorrow I might feel upset or ashamed or let down.
• Do I need to hurt myself?
  I don't know. I really don't. I think so.

I think it's really good that you managed to list alternatives... like listening to your iPod. And it's great that you can see that you don't need to hurt yourself.

If you're really struggling with ED thoughts and body image issues at the moment, then Please Be Healthy is a really helpful forum.

Take care
S x