SELF-HARM
Text About It is a free and anonymous text support service for moments when you are dealing with self-harm and need support to get to a calmer place. Text HELLO to 50808 to start a conversation, any time - day or night.
If your life is at imminent risk, please call 999 immediately.
What is SELF-HARM?
Self-harm is when someone deliberately hurts, cuts or injures themselves. For some people, self-harm is a way of coping with difficult or overwhelming feelings.
Many people self-harm as a coping mechanism to deal with intense or difficult emotions, feelings and situations. If you are self-harming, you might not have felt able to talk to anyone about what you are going through, and it can feel very hard to ask for help. Asking for help is a brave step to take and an important one to find alternative ways of coping with difficult emotions.
What to do if you are thinking of self-harming?
TALK TO SOMEONE
Sharing that you’re going through a hard time, that you want to hurt yourself, or that you have been hurting yourself may feel overwhelming. Opening up about your mental health can be a relief that reduces the isolation and loneliness you may have been feeling.
If you feel like you can’t tell someone you know, there are a number of support organisations out there who can help you. There are people out there who care about you and who want to help you. If you would like free, anonymous, anonymous support, you can text HELLO to 50808 to speak to a volunteer. We are available at any time, day or night.
If your life is at imminent risk, please call 999 immediately.
Make a list of triggers
Every time the idea of self-harm comes into your head, take note of what made you think of it. Knowing what your triggers are and when you’re more likely to experience the urge to self-harm can help you to make a plan for the next time those urges come up.
Take time to find a coping mechanism that works for you so that you can resist the urge to harm yourself.
Find other coping mechanisms
When feeling the urge to self-harm, it helps to know what you will do instead. You might need to try a few different things before you find what works for you.
You may also decide to use a different coping mechanism depending on what has triggered your urge - it’s all down to what works best for you.
There are short term solutions, like:
Talking to someone
Writing out how you feel in a journal
Going for a walk
Expressing yourself through art
Doing something with your hands like drawing
There are also longer term solutions that involve developing healthy coping mechanisms, such as:Doing breathing exercises
Practising mindfulness
Developing an exercise routine