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?
what will hurting myself bring to the situation? what will it take away from the situation?
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?
if hurting myself seems like my best option right now, how long will the relief it brings last? what will i do then?
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?
how will i feel tomorrow if i hurt myself? how will i feel tomorrow if i do the other thing i came up with?
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?
Sad. Out of control. T isn't listening to me. Want to quit therapy. Want to stop going to Dr appts Want the entire world to just stop. Want my mind to calm down.
How will I feel when I am hurting myself?
Numb. Numb would be good.
How will I feel after hurting myself? How will I feel tomorrow morning?
Don't know.
Can I avoid this stressor, or deal with it better in the future?
T is not listening. Wants too much from me. Do I need to hurt myself?
No. I won't really help. I do know that. Don't care want to do it anyway.
Remember you don't have to answer all the questions if you don't feel up to it.
