i still get urges

[jaclax182b]

its been 4 months since i last cut but i still get urges every day. not strong ones but they come into my mind often enough to worry me. one minute im fine talking with friends, then once they leave and im left alone its back to the desire to push that blade back in. im really scared of losing all the progress ive made but im not sure how long i can last before i snap and do it again.

[Le bonheur*]

4 months without self-harm is amazing! I hope you realize how strong you are just for making it that far. <3 You can beat the urges by distracting your mind and making it think about other things. Watch a funny show on TV, write, read, play with a pet - if you have one, etc. There are things that will help you feel better without the pain and eventually the urges will subside. Look at the alternatives thread here on TH and see if something there works for you. Or you could simply talk it out with someone. If you don't have someone in the "real world" that you can talk to, feel free to PM me. I'll be glad to listen and help as much as I possibly can. You're stronger than self-harm and you can beat this. <3

[Palmolive]

Hi there.

Firstly I want to congratulate you on being self harm free for four whole entire months because that is absolutely amazing and is something you need to hold on to. It is an inspiration, I am sure to many of us here at teenhelp.

Beating self harm is hard,and even though you haven't done it in four months the urges are still going to come and go and bother you at times. Sometimes they are going to be worse than others and you are going to go through bad staged and blips where they seem to be there constantly. For some people it;s easier and for others it really is a tricky challenge because self harm is addictive. And I can understand that beating these urges is really hard for you right now.

I know it's hard but I was wondering if you know why you want to self harm? What is it about self harm that helps you and do you know the triggers and the problems behind the self harm which cause you to want to hurt yourself? If not these are things you could keep logs of to help you find the underlying reason as well as the triggers to help prevent them from happening in the future or to help you deal with them more effectively if they do happen.

I want to make sure you know that what ever thoughts you are experiencing right now are just thoughts and ultimately it's only you who can act upon them. They are no in control of you but you are in control of them. And the feelings you feel are just feelings, they're nothing else but how you feel and as horrible as they are to experience they can not hurt you in any way.

Take a look at this list of alternatives. I know sometimes we think 'oh god, I can't do them any more' or 'it's pointless' and 'they don't take away the pain i feel' but they take you out of the moment that you're in when you want to self harm and them can stop you from hurting yourself which is what we are trying to beat here. It's really important you stick at them and keep on trying even if it's three in the morning, keep going until you can't physically keep your eyes open and drop of to sleep with out even knowing it.

I also want to encourage you to reach out for help if you're not already receiving any support from anyone to help you find the cause of the underlying issue/issues behind this self harm and to work with someone in a way which will benefit you.

I hope this helps. Look after you and remember you're doing really well

Jessie

[Magaly]

Hey, congrats on making it this far! That's great!
It only gets easier from here, i promise
Just don't give in, i promise you'll get through this
Hang in there! Stay strong!!!
Pm me if you ever need to talk!