Self-harm Alternative: 7 Amazing self-harm Alternatives to use
Self-harm alternatives are coping strategies that can help you overcome the urge to self-harm or stop self-harming.
If you want to stop self-harming, you must reach out for help and surround yourself with positive people. You shouldn’t feel you have to figure things out by yourself. Young individuals who always handle issues themselves may find it challenging to ask for and accept help. Learning to accept aid from others is a crucial step on the road to recovery.
Self-harm can be a symptom of an underlying cause. Talking to a trusted person can help you identify that issue and develop healthier methods to deal with stress. Learning what triggers your sensations of joy, sorrow, anger, isolation, weakness, or strength can lead to more adaptive coping strategies.
7 self-harm alternatives you should try out
- Psychotherapy
Talking to an adult you trust, a friend, or a medical expert who is knowledgeable on the matter (preferably a psychiatrist) is the first step in seeking help. A psychiatrist will inquire about your present and prior health status and any self-harming actions. The diagnostic interview could span an hour or more.
You can benefit from psychotherapy by learning to
- recognize and deal with the causes of your self-harm;
- cope more effectively with negative emotions;
- build a more positive sense of self-control;
- enhance your relationships and social skills;
- solve problems in constructive ways.
Individual psychotherapy can take many forms and may be beneficial sometimes.
Types of psychotherapy can include:
- Dialectical behavior therapy: This is a subset of CBT that teaches behavioral skills to help you handle distress, cope with or regulate emotions, and improve relationships with others;
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): This will help you identify negative, unhealthy beliefs and behaviors and replace them with healthy, adaptive ones.
- Mindfulness-based therapies help you focus on the here-and-now, how to interpret the motives and actions of others around you accurately and ultimately lessen your anxiety and despair.
- Medical Care
Unfortunately, self-injury is not in agreement with conventional medical treatment. However, medical care is proven to be an effective self-harm alternative for coping and control. Suppose they have diagnosed you with a mental health condition like depression or anxiety. In that case, your doctor may prescribe drugs such as antidepressants or other medications to treat the underlying cause contributing to your self-harm. If you suffer from one of these mental illnesses, getting treatment may reduce your desire or urge to hurt yourself.
- Psychiatric hospitality
In cases of severe or recurring self-injury, medical professionals may advise patients to seek inpatient psychiatric care as a self-harm alternative. Being admitted to the hospital, even if only for a short period, can provide a secure environment and increased levels of care as you get through a treatment plan. Daily programs for mental health care may also be an option.
- A focus on self-care
Besides medical attention, consider the following self-harm alternative:
- Follow your doctor’s orders in the letter. Don’t miss therapy sessions and always take your medicine as indicated.
- Be aware of what may cause you to experience the need to self-harm. Prepare yourself for the next time you feel the need to self-harm by thinking ahead about other ways to calm or distract yourself and receive help.
- Keep the number of your doctor or mental health professional close at hand, and call them if you engage in self-injurious behavior.
- Try to make exercise and breathing exercises a standard part of your day. Sustain a nutritious diet. Too much or not enough sleep can impact one’s mood and behavior, so it’s important to seek medical help if you’re having trouble.
- Stay away from drugs and alcohol. They impair decision-making ability and increase the risk of self-harm.
- If you’ve hurt yourself, make sure to bandage yourself and contact a doctor if you need to.
- Keep healthy social relationships
- Understand yourself
Understanding the cycles of self-harm is effective with journaling and reflecting on experiences. Recognize the situations that set off your triggers. Several factors triggered the impulse to injure oneself. These things could be persons, scenarios, ideas, or emotions.
You can reduce or eliminate self-harm when you notice your impulses. Try keeping a journal of your observations about your cravings to recognize them when they arise.
Some examples of urges for self-harm are a rapid heartbeat, a sense of heaviness, the experience of intense emotions such as grief or anger, a sense of alienation from oneself or a lack of sensation, and unhealthy decisions, such as overworking to escape uncomfortable emotions; negative recurrent ideas, like “I’m going to cut myself.”
- Distract yourself
Distract yourself if you’re feeling the want to hurt yourself. It could take some time before your emotions are calm enough to handle this.
The time to act is whenever you feel the need or as soon as you realize you are hurting yourself.
As a self-harm alternative, you may find it helpful to list various methods of coping with your feelings.
Always keep yourself in a healthy social setting. Take away any weapons or tools that could be used for harming oneself.
- Delay yourself from self-harming
Delay engaging in self-harming until you’ve shared your feelings with someone else or waited 15 minutes. Try to get additional 15 minutes if possible. Keep going till you feel better.
Releasing negative emotion as a self-harm alternative
Finding effective strategies to help people quit self-harming is challenging. In other words, one person’s “magic bullet” may not work for another. You can deal with intense feelings by trying the following strategies:
- keeping a journal,
- working out to release excess energy,
- expressing yourself vocally by screaming or singing loudly (into a pillow if you don’t want others to hear) when you’re alone or to music.
- Anxiety can be reduced by regularly engaging in calming activities like yoga, meditation, or mental imagery.
See how to practice mental imagery as a self-harm alternative
- Crying is a perfectly acceptable approach (not a sign of being weak or stupid) to release unhealthy emotions like sadness or anger.
- Communicate with a friend or with Shine Rose (shinerosewriter@gmail.com).
- Read a book or your Bible
- Pray if you are a Christian
- Listen to a music
- Engage in creative activities such as drawing, painting, writing, scribbling, dancing, etc.
