write down the shadow that's hiding behind the urge. look at it. ask yourself:
- Why do I feel I need to hurt myself? What has brought me to this point? I dont know why...or what...I just really crave doing it...Prolly the lack of doing it for the past 2 weeks after doing it almost daily has something to do with it. I feel weak...i should be able to just stop
- Have I been here before? What did I do to deal with it? How did I feel then? yeah ive been here before, and it took alot, but i made it through
- What I have done to ease this discomfort so far? What else can I do that won't hurt me?
Tried to talk to my boyfriend, but hes not in a good mood, keeping busy on here
- How do I feel right now?
numb, craving sensation
- How will I feel when I am hurting myself?
a hella lot better
- How will I feel after hurting myself? How will I feel tomorrow morning?
ill feel better after but mega guilty and shitty tomorrow
- Can I avoid this stressor, or deal with it better in the future?
Ummm, avoiding prolly not, dealing with it? hmm idk, i honestly dunno
- Do I need to hurt myself?
- how will this situation or feeling change if i hurt myself?
ill feel better for a while
- what will hurting myself bring to the situation? what will it take away from the situation?
Ill be able to think straight and relax, its gonna take away the 2 weeks ive gone without it
- 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 dont know...
- if hurting myself seems like my best option right now, how long will the relief it brings last? what will i do then?
it will last a while..after that idk what ill do
- 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 go to sleep...just take my meds and go to sleep
- how will i feel tomorrow if i hurt myself? how will i feel tomorrow if i do the other thing i came up with?
ill feel like shit
and ill feel ok i guess if i dont
- 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.
