before.

[Fuzzbuster08]

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?
Help me quit being so sensitive to what everyone says to me.

what will hurting myself bring to the situation? what will it take away from the situation?
It will take away the 57 days of SI free i have. I will bring releif for a short amount of time

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?
Make me feel like a failure for not trying harder. It will bring me further away from getting better

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 bring releif for probably the rest of the day. Then i will have to start all over 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 am doing this "before" thing because i am at school and there is really nothing else i can do to distract me from this right now.

how will i feel tomorrow if i hurt myself? how will i feel tomorrow if i do the other thing i came up with?
I will feel guilty for giving in, but i wont feel the emotional pain i am feeling right now.

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 SI, but knowing that it will take away nearly 60 days is a big gamble for me that i would lose at.

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?
Everything that is going on with my family and losing my best friend.

Have I been here before? What did I do to deal with it? How did I feel then?
Yes i have been here before and i gave in. I am going to try to be stronger this time and make it.


What I have done to ease this discomfort so far? What else can I do that won't hurt me?
I have written in my journal. In gym class i can try to kill the boys while playing dodgeball i guess, haha!

How do I feel right now?
I am starting to feel a little better that i got it out, but i still feel like numb and dead.

How will I feel when I am hurting myself?
I feel like i have control of my feelings like i am the boss of my body and no one else is.

How will I feel after hurting myself? How will I feel tomorrow morning?
I usualy feel calm, like the lid has been taken off of a boiling pot of water

Can I avoid this stressor, or deal with it better in the future?
I cant really avoid it means it is my family, but i can just work through it with my therapist. (who is really really awesome!)

Do I need to hurt myself?
I dont "need" to but i really want to. I never really need to, its more of a desire to.

Remember you don't have to answer all the questions if you don't feel up to it.