What are some things to do to overcome urges to self harm?

[Venateration]

I have a history of self harm (since I was younger) and now I wish to stop the underlying urge to cut without actually cutting myself, what are some ideas of stuff I can do instead?

 

[R. A.]

Try to focus on your body, mental state and/or surroundings, if possible.
If not, try to escape your body/thoughts/surroundings. Something immersive, like running or punching a pillow may work.
Depends on the underlying cause, different for everyone.

 

[DirtCommie]

only answers I have for you are intense cardio and omega 3 pills.

I have found nothing else that works for me.
also this may be cause of where Im from but I also found that avoiding tap water msde me self harn less. im in canada right now

 

[Dot]

Thre = 'copng2 wth urgs' sectn on thred whre cn dwnload dcumnt whch hs lts of dffrnt dstractn ideas

Self Harm Resources

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...

sanctioned-suicide.net

 

[usernamegoeshere]

something that works for me is getting a pen and paper and just pressing the pen really hard and ripping the paper if that makes any sense. another thing is definitely just distractions, watching youtube really helps ground me !

 

[ForestGhost]

It's not easy, when I was really struggling with self harm the mainstream "solutions" that I saw (things like rubbing an ice cube on your skin or flicking a rubber band instead) were kind of laughable. Not to knock them completely, I mean maybe they work for some people, but if you're deep into it, it's probably going to require a lot more work to break the habit.

I think the first step is acknowledging that it is a serious addiction and that it tackling it is a holistic process. If at all possible, try to separate yourself from whatever tools (if applicable) you use to engage in self harm. This might mean tossing any razors or staying away from knives or other sharp things. Obviously you can't do this forever, but at the beginning your goal should only be to accumulate a bit of clean time by any means possible.

Once you've stopped for a bit, the next step is to find ways to "sublimate" the urges into some other activity when they do inevitably crop up. Plenty of good suggestions on this thread already, but physical activity is what's worked best for me. Then it's really just a matter of staying the course. After enough time, the urges should decrease more and more. Don't beat yourself up if you relapse, use it as an opportunity to reflect on what is or isn't working.