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rainwillneverstop

rainwillneverstop

Global Mod | Serious Health Hazard
Jul 12, 2022
357
This post is written by @Dot, I am just the messenger


Self Harm

It's known that there are many users on the forum who self harm for different reasons. This thread is focused mostly on habitual or impulsive/physical self harm.

This thread has not been made for any glorification of self harm but to give some info on reasons why people self harm, along with some advice for either coping through urges or some basic first aid and care advice for the after-affects of harming. Hopefully this info will help members reduce some of the longer term risks self harm can bring.​


According to Mind, reasons for self harm could be any of; although not exclusively the following:
  • Expressing feelings that cannot be put into words.
  • Making invisible feelings visible
  • Reducing overwhelming feelings and thoughts
  • Gaining sense of control
  • Escaping traumatic thoughts and memories
  • Having something consistent to come back to
  • Self-punishment
  • Escaping numbness and trying to feel 'something'
  • Creating something to look after
  • Expressing suicidal feelings without making an attempt.

Self harm comes in many forms including;
  • Cutting, burning and scratching
  • Picking at injuries to prevent healing
  • Hair pulling and skin picking
  • Self-punching
  • OD's and taking substances without intention of suicide
  • Risky and self sabotaging behaviors
  • Starving yourself

Risks of self harm include longer term issues like scarring, but wounds can create infection which can worsen scarring, and in worse case scenarios can also lead to sepsis which can be fatal - so if self harm is something that members use to cope then having good hygiene and first aid protocol is important.​

Tools to avoid to manage risks

First suggestion would be to look into distractions and ways to avoid self-harming altogether, however if harming is not being avoided, some self harm tools come with higher risks than others. One member with a history of self harm warns against using "Multi tool blades, Stanley blades (very easy to cut much deeper than intended), any knife thats used for food, scissors, nail & screws, reused razor blades are a no go (infection). Switchblades, hunting knives. Basically everything that's not a thin sterilized razor blade."​

First Aid

Info about first aid for types of self harm such as cutting, burning and overdosing can be found at Self Injury Support and a document which @EvisceratedJester found online has detailed first aid information for curs of different severities.

More in-depth medical advice for burns can be found here

Info is also available on YouTube for basic wound dressing, minor wound care, how to apply a bandage and how to minimise scarring
Note: If researching wound care on YouTube then it is advised to only take advice from medically accredited channels

Coping with urges

Some different methods to help with urges can include:

Self-Harm Support - Organisations for help with crisis or general healing and peer-to-peer support
  • Find A Helpline Global vetted directory of helplines, hotlines and crisis lines. Chat, text or phone support with suicide, anxiety, depression, domestic violence, gender& sexual identity and more.​
  • Self-Injury Recovery and Awareness - or "SIRA" for short, focuses on filling the massive gap of care for the self-injury community by teaching them how to heal from the inside-out, through a peer-to-peer support group model - International​
  • TLC Foundation For body focused repetitive behaviours e.g skin picking, hair pulling etc.​
  • Other general therapies might help with the underlying causes of self-harm. Information about different available therapiesand how they work is available here

More information can be found in the downloadable Self Harm Recovery Guide courtesy of @soulkitty
 
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Dot

Dot

Info abt typng styl on prfle.
Sep 26, 2021
2,979
Fl free 2 add n.e info whch hs bn helpfl whch slf cn integr8 in2 thred
 
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KillMeh

KillMeh

Member
Sep 13, 2023
38
Watching horror movies can be a substitute for me from time to time <3
 
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bac-9271

bac-9271

it's over
Feb 29, 2024
15
None of these are helpful. I would like more resources on how to hide it, make up excuses about it and so on.
This is not the site where we comes to "fix" ourselves.
 
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lita-lassi

lita-lassi

let me spell it out for you: go to hell
Sep 25, 2023
581
None of these are helpful. I would like more resources on how to hide it, make up excuses about it and so on.
This is not the site where we comes to "fix" ourselves.
this is the recovery section
 
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C

charredlettuce

Member
Aug 7, 2023
15
Unfortunately the alternatives don't really help me. I self harm for two reasons 1. to punish myself with pain and 2. to pull myself out of extreme episodes of guilt. playing with a drawing tool that "mimics" self harm doesnt really line up with my needs for an alternative. is there anything that isnt ice that causes pain without doing harm? ice doesnt really work for me
 
Dot

Dot

Info abt typng styl on prfle.
Sep 26, 2021
2,979
Unfortunately the alternatives don't really help me. I self harm for two reasons 1. to punish myself with pain and 2. to pull myself out of extreme episodes of guilt. playing with a drawing tool that "mimics" self harm doesnt really line up with my needs for an alternative. is there anything that isnt ice that causes pain without doing harm? ice doesnt really work for me

Nt sre bt slf cn lk

Thnk on PDFs thre r optns abt usng chili etc
 
Tesha

Tesha

Life too shall pass
May 31, 2020
911
Thnk on PDFs thre r optns abt usng chili
I've used chilli before - a sauce called 'regret' (on UK Amazon). It hurts momentarily, but not in the same way as cutting. I ended up eating several large doses over a number of hours to increase the effects. I got a lot of mouth ulcers / sores and did 'regret' the toilet experience the following day… I wouldn't use it again, but it may work for some people.
 
D

deadleaf

New Member
Jun 19, 2024
3
I generally tend to punch myself and to pull my hair, but I can't exactly control myself when it happens.. I mean, it's like something explodes in my mind and my body starts to do stuff to release the pain. I always do it alone, obviously. It's something that I always did even when I was a kid. It helps in feeling something else apart from the emotional pain. I recently started to consider to try the "smash room"! I don't know if anyone heard about it but basically it's a room in which you can smash everything you find. You must pay, obviously, but I don't see a big difference between a smash room and a gym pool, for example. In my opinion, people tend to harm themselves because they feel constricted, limited, suffocated, frustrated. It could be just my situation, but I think it's because we're not used to "do". We're more like to "think",probably because we couldn't express us when we were kids. My theory is that I suffered too much control when I was younger, so now i don't know how to express the frustration and i tend to hurt my body because it's the only thing on which i think i have power and free will. My point is that if someone want to stop, maybe trying to focus to something different could help. If we learned that objects are more important than our body, so we can't smash furniture but we can harm our body, then maybe trying to invert this process could help the turn of the mindset? But obviously I want to avoid criminal things and I definitely don't want to smash my house. I really need to try the smash room. You can even ask to smash computers and other stuff and you can ask to do it with music in the background. XD I'll post an update when I'll have verified the efficiency of that option.
Thank you for this post, as always!
It helps.
 
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Life Is My Coffin

Life Is My Coffin

One final action ⚰️⚰️⚰️
Oct 13, 2023
251
Great OP

De-facto thread theme:




🔪 🔪 🔪

Nocturnal Depression have many other songs about self harm as well, such as "Slit My Wrists" and "Self-Mutilation (Anthem to the Blades)" they were my favorite band to cut to when I did it more frequently.
 
fleetingnight

fleetingnight

incapable of shutting up
May 2, 2024
648
Is there a more specific thread for first aid for self harm, or would that go in this thread? I thought there was a specific first aid one, but searching key words hasn't led me to what I'm looking for
 
Dot

Dot

Info abt typng styl on prfle.
Sep 26, 2021
2,979
Is there a more specific thread for first aid for self harm, or would that go in this thread? I thought there was a specific first aid one, but searching key words hasn't led me to what I'm looking for
Scrll t/ 1st aid sectn of abve thred & lk thru creflly & follw alll lnks / opn all spoilrs
 
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EvisceratedJester

EvisceratedJester

|| What Else Could I Be But a Jester ||
Oct 21, 2023
3,736
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Scenegirlshooter

Scenegirlshooter

A gun is the greatest negotiater
Aug 21, 2024
12
Any info on how to hide bandages I wouldnt hide them cause imo opinion bandages make cuts**LOOK*** cooler but I have people whod freak out if they figured out I was cutting again.
THANKS! edit was for clarification
 
Mr.Black

Mr.Black

Member
Dec 31, 2023
10
Whichever page the "Mind" hyperlink directed to at the beginning of this post, it doesn't exist anymore, please fix.
 
Dot

Dot

Info abt typng styl on prfle.
Sep 26, 2021
2,979
I just googled it and found it on here https://www.coursehero.com/file/225489713/SELF-HARM-CARE/
It looks like it's from a college but I don't like the "constant access to your facebook account" or similar you have to agree to to get the version from my link.

= np - slf & th/ mds hve a lnk whch cn b addd dirctly t/ thred - am jst lookng fr sme srroundng info t/ add b4 postng
Also notcd th/ imges r nt showng n.emre s/ wll nd 2 gt tht fixd
 
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