Treatment for cutting and other nonsuicidal selfinjury. Alternatives to selfinjury talk to someone you could tell a friend or family member how you feel, and why you are upset. Want to feel better without cutting or hurting yourself. For many young people, selfinjury is the best method they have found for dealing with the pain in their lives. Alternatives to selfharm and distraction techniques. Self harm self harm coping strategies coping strategies. These alternatives may be particularly helpful when first starting to stop selfinjuring. I take meds, see a pyschiatist, and my parents know. Selfharm, or selfmutilation, is the act of deliberately inflicting pain and damage to ones own body.
These tools are designed to relieve the desire to selfinjure the next time you feel like selfharming. Alternatives to self harm selfharm can be viewed as a coping mechanism for intense, painful emotion. Feel free to read and make notes from the page or you can also download a printable copy of the personal safety plan sheet and the alternatives to selfharm and cutting for yourself. This worksheet helps you put together a selfharm coping plan so that you can remind yourself about alternatives and more constructive strategies for dealing with your feelings when you feel the urge to selfharm. These ideas have all been suggested by people whove selfharmed in the past, so they worked for someone. Nonsuicidal selfinjury of adolescents shannon lovell. The following are examples that may be considered with a young person, particularly during the care planning process. Below you will find a personal safety plan and alternatives to selfharm and cutting. Selfinflicted violence is the intentional injuring of ones body as a means of coping with. Treatment for cutting and other nonsuicidal selfinjury behaviors april 2015 it is common for those who repeatedly selfinjure to have a preferred method and body location.
It is often used as a result of not having learned how to identify or express difficult feelings in. A distant western relative of this is the fashion for body piercing and adornment with studs and rings. The reasons someone begins selfinjuring are complex. Write a letter, not mailed, to the person or problem upsetting you. And throughout my years of battling with selfharm, ive found healthier alternatives i can turn to when the urge is strong. We evaluated the effects of relatively benign punishment procedures reprimands or brief manual restraint on the selfinjurious behavior of 4 individuals who had been diagnosed with mental retardation, when access to reinforcement for alternative behavior manipulation of. The focus of the present paper is to provide a conceptual framework for understanding. Alternatives to selfharm and distraction techniques what is selfharm. Includes a full color bingo board, a black and white checklist, and smaller cards that can be handed out to your students andor clients as takeaway reference guides.
Autism, head banging and other self harming behavior. Alternatives to selfharm and distraction techniques what. Effects of reinforcement for alternative behavior during. Selfharm, or selfinjury, describes a wide range of things people deliberately do to themselves that appear to be harmful but usually do not kill them. Life can get stressful and we want to make sure you have some tools for your own selfcare. Finding new ways of coping with difficult feelings can help to suppress the urges that lead to selfinjury and may help in the recovery process. Say ill selfharm in fifteen minutes if i still want to and keep going for periods of fifteen minutes until the urge fades color your hair count up to ten getting louder until you are screaming sing on the karaoke machine complete something youve been putting off. In order to change the behavior, its necessary to find alternative ways to tolerate and.
As one would expect, having multiple terms for selfharm creates misunderstanding and confusion both in academic research and in clinical settings. If you can figure out what function your selfinjury serves, you can learn other ways to get those needs metwhich in turn can reduce your desire to hurt yourself. This selfcare poster is a helpful reminder of healthy coping skills that can be used as alternatives to selfharm and selfinjury. You can find it in most health food stores and vitamin stores. Nonsuicidal selfinjury nssi is more common in adolescent and young adult populations than in the past. Alternatives for self injury scratching and cutting. I used to tell myself, im only scratching, its not real selfharm. Plan regular activities for your most difficult time of day 52. How to use the impulse control log safe alternatives. Another good alternative to selfharm, take a cold bath. Distraction techniques the cornell research program on. Alternatives to selfharm some of these ideas will feel like a perfect fit, whilst others will seem ridiculous to you, its just about seeing what works for you, were all different. It may be helpful to keep a list on hand so that when you get the urge to selfinjure you can go down the list and find something that feels right to you in the moment. Thinking about these things will better prepare you to explore alternatives to selfharm.
Selfinjury and the home environment finding treatment supporting your child while heshe is getting help information for parents what you need to know about selfinjury. Understanding what triggers you to cut or selfharm is a vital step towards recovery. Alternatives to nonsuicidal selfinjury nssi this handout presents some noninjurious alternatives to nssi. Information for parents the cornell research program on. You can keep the pdf on your device, or you can even print it out. Get 100 selfharm alternatives with a free printable. I think one of my biggest barriers to getting help was actually not admitting to myself that i had a problem. Here are some alternatives to selfharm aka selfinjury, selfmutilation. Likewise, the emotions surrounding recovery may be difficult and complicated, too.
Recovering from selfinjury is a journey and a process. Ive compiled a list of 100 selfharm alternatives into one free pdf. I am 17 years old and have been self injuring for 2 years. Alternatives to selfharm snap a rubber band around your wrist. Alternatives to selfharm with dialectical behavior therapy.
You simply draw a butterfly on the places of selfharm and if the butterfly fades without selfharming, it means that the butterfly lived and has flown away, giving you a sense of achievement. Draw on yourself with washable red marker then take a shower and wash away your pain. Selfharm most often refers to cutting, burning, scratching, and other forms of external. Below is a list of things to do instead of cutting, burning, bruising, or any other form of self harm. As a result, the individual experiences an anesthesialike effect and, ostensibly. When you feel the need to cut snap the rubber band until the urge subsides. Alternative coping mechanisms to help avoid or reduce self. If you can get to the root of the problem, you can find alternative methods to. Nonsuicidal selfinjury nssi is widely thought to serve an emotionregulatory function. However, it is also important to learn to express your feelings, by talking, writing or drawing about them. Alternative coping mechanisms to avoid selfharm first person plural.
Ive heard about wearing a rubber band on your wrist as an alternative. Alternative coping mechanisms to help avoid or reduce selfharming alternatives for when youre feeling angry or restless. Draw on yourself with washable red markerthen take a shower and wash away your pain. Some young people find it possible to utilise less harmful techniques to provide the function sought from selfinjury. Hurt yourself in a relatively harmless way, like holding ice, or rubbing ice on the spot you would normally cut or burn. Chew up a hot pepper or rub liniment under your nose. From my experience, its an incredibly difficult addiction to beat. Working with nonsuicidal selfinjurious behavior adolescents adolescents are faced with a myriad of psychological hurdles as they grow and develop. These are ideas that give some of the visual or physical sensation of selfharm without actually causing harm to the body. Our experts have put together a list of 15 safer ways to selfharm, many of which are proven to give the same release and effect as other means, but with much less risk.
Alice, in the past i have selfmutilated and recently there has been a lot of added stress to my life. Tiger balm is a muscle relaxant cream that induces a tingly sensation. Working with nonsuicidal selfinjurious adolescents mark d. Selfharm is not usually a failed attempt at suicide, but it can still be very hard for parents or carers. Ritual self harm includes acts which occur within a set of shared cultural or religious beliefs, within which they token a particular significance or meaning. Find a thick rubber band and put it around your wrist. Nssi is typically used to deal with distressing negative affective states, especially anger and depression, and mixed emotional states. Whereas if you do selfharm while the butterfly is still visible.
Cutting the arms or the back of the legs with a razor or knife is. Distraction techniques and alternative coping strategies cornell. I am trying to stop scratching and cutting, but still have plenty of urges, i am looking for alternatives to self injury. Mental health first aid australia is a national notforprofit organisation that develops and evaluates training programs and trains and accredits instructors. I was just curious are there any downsides to this method, as an example i have been doing this for a week now and i have gotten a bruise on my hand, it probably isnt from me snapping the rubber band but. You could tell a friend or family member how you feel, and why you are upset. Alternatives that will distract you or take up time. Learn about selfharming and how you can overcome it. If youre concerned about an injury or not sure how to look after it, go and see your gp. Or, you could talk to a friend or family member about other things, and see if focusing on something different helps you to cope with the urge to injure. Selfinjury, also known as selfharm, is the act of trying to get rid of an unbearable mood by causing physical harm that damages the body. This paper will address these misperceptions, identify the reasons that people turn to selfinjury, and describe what best supports people in healing from the need for siv.