How can I stop cutting myself?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

How come your therapist isn't giving you help on stopping this? Try a new therapist or a psychiatrist that specializes in this disorder - they might help you better than this one.

experience

I'm glad that you wish to stop. Good luck with it =]
Some methods that you can use are:
- Put an elastic band around your wrist and flick it when you get the urge to cut yourself.
- Hold some ice cubes against the area of your body that you cut. It will give you some stinging sensation. For an extra effect, you can colour the ice using dyes or blackcurrant squash (by mixing it with the water before you freeze it) to give the illusion of bleeding.
- Doing vigorous exercise, it'll hurt but you'll do your body good.
- Draw red lines on whatever part of your body you cut with a pen
- Hide the instrument you cut yourself with in a hard place to get to. This will mean it'll take longer to find it and you may have calmed down and no longer feel the need to self harm.
- You could talk to someone about your feelings, and address why you wish to self harm.

The best thing I can suggest is a distraction. Watch telly, go on the computer, talk with friends, do whatever just make sure you aren't thinking about self harm. Forget about the world and the reasons you wish to cut. Focus on something fun and that you enjoy doing, like:
- Listening to music
- Watching telly
- Go on the computer
- Painting
- Drawing
- Whatever you enjoy that distracts you.

You could, if nothing else works, gradually make the cuts you inflict smaller, and do fewer at a time. This will take a lot longer to stop.

None of these methods I have suggested are 100% guaranteed to work. Most of these do not work for me, I am trying to stop as well. I try and distract myself most of the time. Being around others helps as, you rarely, if ever, self harm in someone else's presence.

I would like to tell you that you may relapse whilst trying to stop. Most people do. Don't get frustrated with yourself. It takes a lot of time, energy and effort to stop self harming, even for the smallest amount of time.

I wish you all the best. Good luck stopping, I hope everything goes well for you x

Definitely get a new therapist. Threatening you with a mental hospital isn't doing any good. My medication has been working pretty well to reduce the urge to cut. I haven't cut in a few months. Your therapist should know it's not about attempting suicide. You can tell people whatever they want to hear but you have to want to stop. It isn't wrong to not want to stop. This is because, first off you need a better therapist to teach you better coping mechanisms...again, if you want to stop. Good luck.

get a new therapist, what she is doing by thretening you is totally against the law and it is totally cruel to someone who has probably been though a lot.

you could try: exercise, yoga, singing, writing a diary, playing an instrument, thinking of a crush, snapping a rubber band on your wrist, swimming, watching a gory movie, drawing a butterfly on the area where you want to cut, talk to a friend.

DO get a new therapist though, she shouldnt be a therapist because what she is doing is really bad.

suicidal cutter who believes in human rights

I don't care what you do.
Don't get put in a mental hospital. Those places are awful.
You know what a family member of mine that used to cut themselves did?
Every day me or or her friends counted the number of cuts on her arm, if they went up, we would keep her away from anything she could cut herself with. Even pencil sharpeners. She doesn't cut anymore.

Why would you want to cut your self if your not trying to kill yourself . The only real way you can get out of any rut no matter how hard . Is self belief . And the only way you can get that is setting out some goals about the future and what you want from your life . What WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY CONTENT ? I'm still trying to figure it out

Me just me

you have to figure out what makes you cut in the first place and try and solve that.

Maybe fine another way to feel happier or whatever cutting makes you feel such as writing your feelings down.
You might find expressing yourself in another way would help. i mean like in some art.
May seem silly but you don't know it will work until you try.

Take it in little steps and first cut down how much you cut instead of stopping.

hope this helps and good luck stopping

It's good that you told someone. You could try holding an ice cube, snapping a rubber band, or take up some different exercising classes.