Before You Self-Harm
write down the shadow that's hiding behind the urge. look at it. ask yourself:
- how will this situatio
n or feeling change if i hurt myself?
will feel more in control of my emotions. - what will hurting myself bring to the situation? what will it take away from the situation?
it will lessen my anger and frustration. but then i will be huting myself and those that care about me. - 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?
dont want to si forever but cant stop now. cant cope. - if hurting myself seems like my best option right now, how long will the relief it brings last? what will i do then?
last for tonight. not sure what i will do after that. - 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?
go to meditation class and focus and relax. this may get me thru ttonight. - how will i feel tomorrow if i hurt myself? how will i feel tomorrow if i do the other thing i came up with?
ffeel guilty if i si. breaking promise tto friend. ill feel better if i do meditate if i let myself. - 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?
urges aren't necessarily the enemy. they happen for reasons, and they're an expression of a desire to stay alive and stay sane and keep coping. remember that.
More Before Questions To Answer
- Why do I feel I need to hurt myself? What has brought me to this point?
- Have I been here before? What did I do to deal with it? How did I feel then?
- What I have done to ease this discomfort so far? What else can I do that won't hurt me?
- How do I feel right now?
- How will I feel when I am hurting myself?
- How will I feel after hurting myself? How will I feel tomorrow morning?
- Can I avoid this stressor, or deal with it better in the future?
- Do I need to hurt myself?
Remember you don't have to answer all the questions if you don't feel up to it.[/quote]
