im definitely not the person to be giving advice im still new to sh and dont go past what i deem cat scratches, however all i have access to for sh is a old eyebrow razor, exacto knife, and shitty lighter so those are the things i use. for the razor and knife i just slide it across my skin, usually pretty quickly. it doesnt go deep, like i said, cat scratches, but it still bleeds and you can feel the sting for a while after. with the lighter i either just put the flame near my skin or i heat a bobby pin and press that against my ankle. if you ever find out HOW to go deeper with cutting please let me know, im still not even sure how to go about it.
however im going to WARN you, once you start its so hard to stop. itll only worsen even in small amounts. i never intended to self harm, for a long time all it was was scratching my arms with nails or objects or occasional paper cuts but then i started using blades and lighters. my biggest fear was and still is scarring and even with my baby cuts you can still see faint scars if you look close enough— luckily im the only one who can notice for now.
self harm is a trap. it will never make you feel fufilled or valid enough. there will always always always be a person whos harmed themselves worse than you and it will never be enough. be careful and please find other coping mechanisms. you do not need to connect with your friend in this way, please. i dont doubt for a second that they wouldnt want you to sh as a way to be closer with them
Don't worry, it will be a one time act only. I never found cutting a good way of dealing with problems, not to mention that my mental health is pretty alright i'd say. I've never cut myself before and am not planning to do it consistently only because of how painful it seems. Whenever I tried to do it i'd freeze in fear and could not proceed to do it. It always ended at the moment i wanted to put the razor near the place i wanted to cut, so im not really worried about myself falling in addiction with cutting myself or selfharming as in general
this is how is starts dear. this is exactly how it started for me. started as a one off and being terrified of even being around any sharp object to needing to sh in some form on a daily basis. eventually anything and everything will become a trigger and youll start to get so paranoid and uncomfortable living around people in fear of how theyd react. atleast in my experience, and im sure most others