coping patch

[limestone]

hi,

this is like a mass bus brainstorm:

if you think of something, like an idea to how to cope with si urges or a specific emotion then reply!! Say what you had in mind for what it could help to cope with. Don't worry if it's not original, chances are it might help/remind someone else.

thanks

[jaded melody]

I just made this up the other day but im sure other people do it. I write (in WASHABLE pen!) all over myself, all the bad things i feel about myself, until some of the emotion is out. Then i go and take a shower, and watch all the bad things be washed away.... its kinda soothing. It mostly helps with feelings of self-hatred but you could use it for most things i guess.

Melody xxx

[random idiot]

I just made this up the other day but im sure other people do it. I write (in WASHABLE pen!) all over myself, all the bad things i feel about myself, until some of the emotion is out. Then i go and take a shower, and watch all the bad things be washed away.... its kinda soothing. It mostly helps with feelings of self-hatred but you could use it for most things i guess.

Melody xxx

I do that with permanant marker and then have to wash it off with white spirit. It's really soothing though....my mum thinks I'm more insane for writing on myself then I am for cutting

[Boogie Man]

well these are some things i thaught of that might work...

- drawing or writing. for me its drawing, i like to try and visualise the pain i might be feeling, this helps me with trying to understand what im feeling, so i can deal with it better.

- listening to happy or angery music. depending on how im feeling, if im feeling sad i'll try to put on a few happy tunes to pick me up. or if im feeling angery, i'll play hard angery music to vent my feelings.
no depressing music tho (for me anyways) i just find it brings me down if im feeling sad already, or it converts anger to sadness.
i like to listen to depressing tunes when im feeling ok, to try and identify my own depressing feelings (like with drawing)

- uhh breaking shit. like if im pissed off at myself i might smash something up with a hammer (preferably something that isnt expencive, or your own body).

- calling someone. not actually to talk about how im feeling (i find it waaaay to hard to talk about SI feelings with others in realy life) but just to get my mind off things for a while, or distract myself for a time.

- Talking to BUS peeps im msn (aim, yahoo, whatever). eg people i can actually talk to about SI feelings...

- posting on BUS. as above...

well thats all i can think of at the moment.

peace ya'll

[Territorial Hawk]

I generally write, if I can't deal with an emotion. I write as much as I can down about it, and then try to turn it into something creative.

[Forget Me]

i like to make crazy all over the place pictures, with writing and doodling, mostly, just taking random phrases that come into my head and writing them, or taking random feelings and drawing them. what comes out is an all over the place picture thing, with pictures and words. it helps get everything out.

[Kaelyn]

When I feeling really bad I read one of the letters my friends wrote me.
(I asked them all to write a letter or a card that I would open when I feel I am going to SI.. they're really comforting to read, and sometimes it takes my mind off cutting long enough to change my mind about cutting)
Other things I do:
drawing, writing, posting on BUS, sleeping.

[VowsOfSadness]

Where I want to cut I write in red:

If you show your pain here they will only see your mistake

because if I cut no one will see, "Oh she is hurting inside, she was at a bad spot" they won't see WHAT was wrong only WHAT I DID about it.

I have a big thing with not "kicking people when they're down" it's a real big thing with me so sometimes I write "You don't believe in kicking people when they're down" when I feel like punishing myself or being mean to myself with SI.

[onlypurples]

hi,

this is like a mass bus brainstorm:

if you think of something, like an idea to how to cope with si urges or a specific emotion then reply!! Say what you had in mind for what it could help to cope with. Don't worry if it's not original, chances are it might help/remind someone else.

thanks

I do this too (usually in pen), but I don't scrub hard enough and the words tend to stay around a little longer than the original feelings do --- which also makes me think and helps me realize that feelings do come and go and if you act on every single feeling, you will end up regreting things later. At least the marks don't last long as the scars

[BrokenGurl]

have a little stress ball.....throw it at the wall as hard as i can but it never seems to break stuff...cant get any better..

[onlypurples]

How to deal with ANGER - Do something physical like exercise. Physically do something, like remove yourself from the situation triggering you. Physically exert yourself and let your addrenalin pour out of you.
- punch pillows
- go for a walk/ run/ treadmill
- have a pillow fight with someone
- throw stuffed animals
- go bike riding/ indoor cycling
- do jumping jacks or crunches until you cannot do anymore
- do pushups
- go swimming
- play a sport (shoot hoops, kick a ball around and chase it)

[angelic212]

forget me said:

i like to make crazy all over the place pictures, with writing and doodling, mostly, just taking random phrases that come into my head and writing them, or taking random feelings and drawing them. what comes out is an all over the place picture thing, with pictures and words. it helps get everything out.

i think will give this a try i really like this i never have tried this before so im going to give it a try, i like to draw and i also like to write but if i put these two things together i would be more helpful to express myself i will do this tonight actually thanks for this idea! i hope that you dont mind if i use it i think its goin gto help me very much

[TainTeD Xx gRAcE]

forget me said:

i like to make crazy all over the place pictures, with writing and doodling, mostly, just taking random phrases that come into my head and writing them, or taking random feelings and drawing them. what comes out is an all over the place picture thing, with pictures and words. it helps get everything out.

i think will give this a try i really like this i never have tried this before so im going to give it a try, i like to draw and i also like to write but if i put these two things together i would be more helpful to express myself i will do this tonight actually thanks for this idea! i hope that you dont mind if i use it i think its goin gto help me very much

I do this too. It comes out as sort of a collage. Sometimes in the center of it all Ii draw a hand and make lines on it with a red permanent marker... symbolic gesture.

[TainTeD Xx gRAcE]

forget me said:

i like to make crazy all over the place pictures, with writing and doodling, mostly, just taking random phrases that come into my head and writing them, or taking random feelings and drawing them. what comes out is an all over the place picture thing, with pictures and words. it helps get everything out.

i think will give this a try i really like this i never have tried this before so im going to give it a try, i like to draw and i also like to write but if i put these two things together i would be more helpful to express myself i will do this tonight actually thanks for this idea! i hope that you dont mind if i use it i think its goin gto help me very much

I do this too. It comes out as sort of a collage. Sometimes in the center of it all Ii draw a hand and make lines on it with a red permanent marker... symbolic gesture.

[katja]

I tell my boyfriend or my mom that I can't be alone. If I don't feel like talking I just say I'm scared of a nightmare I had.
If I'm with someone else then its impossible for me to cut.

[Poppies]

When I was trying not to SI, and I'd get really 'urgey', I'd tell myself that if I still felt like it in an hour, then I'd go and do what I wanted to do, and enjoy it...

But somehow that moment - of doing it - didn't come.

It was as if by NOT telling myself that I couldn't do it... but by telling myself that I COULD do it if I chose to... then it took the pressure off.

That worked sometimes!

[carrieuk]

wear elastic bands round your wrists and when you get urge.. twang the band.

it gives relief if you si for pain and it doesnt cause any damage.

collect catalogues and rip the pages out as much as you neeed wen u get urge. wripping a number of pages at once requires the same amount of strenght as needed for si deep.

remember that wen you si you get a rush of endophines (happy hormones) to your brain. this is similar to the rush you get if you take drugs and we kinda get addicted to it. if you think about this rush before si and that it is this that offers the relief it can sometimes help to not si and cause damage just to get that rush.

cx

[makie]

This doesn't work for me, but might work for others. Something my therapeut suggested:

+ Use fake blood to get the illusion of self harm.

+ Watch a really bloody horror movie.

+ And the ususal things like yoga, taking a walk and so on.

Personally I find the first two tips rather triggering.

[black_23]

Somethings that have worked for me in the past are

Drawing in red felt tip pen on myself where I want to hurt (though sometimes, sensation can be trigery)
Snapping elastic bands
If angry tearing out words to express how I feel out of newspaper
Writing how I feel or drawing in black charcol

[5th section]

One of my most effective ways is to go for a walk and have a conversation in my head, imagining I'm explaining to someone why I want to SI and what I'm going to do about it. it helps me get my thoughts in order, I find it easier to think when I'm moving around & in the open air, & it gets me out of the house and away from any possible implements.