rainwillneverstop
Global Mod | Serious Health Hazard
- Jul 12, 2022
- 295
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.
According to Mind, reasons for self harm could be any of; although not exclusively the following:
Self harm comes in many forms including;
Tools to avoid to manage risks
First Aid
Info about first aid for types of self harm such as cutting, burning and overdosing can be found at Self Injury Support
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
User @Valky Also found some infographics for aftercare of cutting injuries of different severity. Use such information at your own risk but might help some members:
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
More information can be found in the downloadable Self Harm Recovery Guide courtesy of @soulkitty
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
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
User @Valky Also found some infographics for aftercare of cutting injuries of different severity. Use such information at your own risk but might help some members:
Coping with urges
Some different methods to help with urges can include:
- 'Urge surfing' (click for worksheet) for which there is a complimentary meditation
- Distractions - click for a downloadable and printable sheet of distraction methods
- Exercises to help emotional overwhelm which can be found here
- There are also products available as an alternative which are designed to help reduce self-harm such as the Self-Harm Recovery Pen
- FatalToTheFleshCom - A site which replicates self harm injury without causing direct harm in order to help harmers calm down during urges
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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