Triggering (SH): My self harm has resurfaced...

[Phoebus125]

Two years ago I went through a brief stint of self-harm. Since I have had many accidents with knives and sharp things, I couldn't stomach the thought of intentionally slicing myself open - so I used a more fitting technique: burning myself. I have fifteen scars on my right forearm from two years ago.
Since a troubling breakup with my girlfriend, my self-harm has resurfaced. I burned myself eight times with matches and have eight new burns to show for it.

I don't want to stray down this dark path again, but it is hard to stop. Can anyone offer me advice?

[MadPoet]

Hey,

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles with self harm. Self harm is a difficult habit to break, and even when we think we've moved on from it, it can come back to haunt us. One of the most important things to do when you are struggling with self harm is to step back and analyze your life. What problems are causing you to self harm? Write them down, and address them as best as you can one by one. It may be more than just your break up. Write down each emotion that causes you to self harm, and become determined to solve them.

Something you might want to consider is therapy. Talking to a therapist can be extremely helpful, especially when it comes to self harm. They can provide you with many techniques that will get your mind off of self harm when you are having an urge to hurt yourself. They will also help you deal with the emotions that you struggle with that cause you to self harm.

You might want to check out this sticky, alternatives and distractions to self harm: http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f12-s...ves-self-harm/ It may help you when you are having urges to burn yourself. There are many healthier things you can do when you have urges, you just have to find them.

I hope that you're able to start recovering soon. Hang in there, and good luck.

[Em...]

Hello There Love,

Well, I must say that I admire you for posting this because it shows me that you're willing to take advice and you'll willing to stop and that my dear is amazing.

Now, as you may already know, self harming, no matter what form is a coping mechanism. Burning yourself is how you are taking care of your feelings of your breakup. The important thing to remember is that you need to find a new way to cope with your feelings.

In this forum there is a sticky labelled alternatives that I think you should take a look at. There are a bunch of alternatives you can use and what's great about this list that they are categorised by how you may be feeling when you want to self-harm. So take a look at those. I'm sure you'll find a few that will help you.

Other than that, talking to someone about it is a good alternative too. Talk to someone you trust about how your feeling and what you're doing and i'm sure they will be able to offer you some sensible advice as well.

You have to remember that even if you're burning yourself, the problem and your feelings are still going to be there, you can't push them away with self harm so easily, it doesn't work that way. You also have to remember that life is going to bring on some tough situations your way and it's up to you on how you deal with them. If you choose to burn yourself, well that's what you do, or you can take more of a healthier alternative and write out your feelings or go for a walk. But the main point is that it's up to you and what you do, no one else can make that choice for you.

I hope this helped a wee bit. Please feel free to PM me if you want to talk more. and please take care of yourself love.