Self Harm

Anything that can get your endorphins flowing

• Go for a brisk walk or run
• Walk up and down a set of stairs repeatedly until you are exhausted
• Jumping Jacks
• Push ups
• Tensing muscles until you can no longer manage to
• House chores - vacuuming, cleaning, tidying away
• Skipping
• Squats
• Punch a pillow
• Dancing

Anything to reproduce safe pain or calm you

• Squeeze an ice cube in your hand until it melts or you can no longer manage to
• Splash your face with cold water
• Wrap yourself in a soft or weighted blanket
• Get in a freezing cold bath or shower (I have used this, it works)
• Smell your favourite cologne
• Squeeze a stress ball
• Stand in the rain (rain required)
• Wear an elastic band around your wrist and pull and release it
• Walk on a pebble path barefoot
• Eat a raw onion
• Snap a pencil and they keep trying to snap each length again and again
• Draw on yourself with red pen (felt tip not biro)
• Perform a squat, half stand up and hold it for as long as you can
• Scribble on paper as hard as you can

Anything that soothes you

• Square Breathing - If there is one mindfulness activity that you should do at least daily regardless of whether you are in distress or not, it is square breathing. Simply put, you breathe in for X seconds, hold for X seconds, breathe out for X seconds, hold for x seconds and repeat. If you can master this in your daily life it will pay you 10 fold when you really need it. If you need a guide click on the video below for an onscreen help.
• Name all of the names you can think of beginning with a particular letter, countries, as many things that you can see of a particular colour