How to calm self-hurting thoughts

Author: Monica Porter
Date Of Creation: 21 March 2021
Update Date: 1 July 2024
Anonim
Treatment for Non-Suicidal Self-Injury
Video: Treatment for Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

Content

People often injure themselves as ways to relieve suffering, to punish themselves, to feel in control, to feel something instead of emotional paralysis, or to let others see that they are are in pain. If you're thinking of hurting yourself, know that there are a few other low-harm ways to achieve the goals listed above. If you feel the urge to harm yourself, seek medical attention by calling 911 or going to the nearest emergency center, seeking advice, or asking for family support.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Calming thoughts

  1. Use positive, realistic thinking. Always try to pinpoint the source of your anxious thoughts. Examine these thoughts by asking yourself: What is bothering me? How does that make me feel? What happened the last time I felt that way? What can I do to stop this feeling immediately?
    • For example, you suffer because your parents are arguing. You can start by identifying if this is actually causing you grief. Ask yourself how this makes you feel. Does it make you afraid of your family's future? Ask yourself what happened the last time your parents argued: Did they make up and lived happily after a while?
    • Recall some of the positive family activities that happened after your parents last fought. Because the mind is more sensitive to negative information than positive, it is important to put more effort into using positive thinking.

  2. Change mind. Try to think of something that is fun or that often makes you truly happy. You can also try to think about what makes you grieving in a different direction.
    • For example, think about a very funny photo of a cat online or something romantic that your partner did for you.
    • To think about what makes you grieving another way, consider the following example. Let's say you are sad because you failed the exam. Think of your bad grades as a challenge that you can overcome on the next exam by studying harder.
    • Another way to try to change your mind is to have compassion for yourself. Try starting to pay attention to compassion. That is, you intentionally focus on your experiences as they take place in the present; don't judge them, but instead try to think of them with courtesy, sympathy, and kindness.
    • You can also try mindful breathing practice. Mindful breathing is paying attention to the bodily sensations associated with the breath, and directing attention back to the breath when the mind begins to wander with other thoughts and emotions. Although you can do these on your own, the best results are obtained if you work with a specialist.
    • Try using images that focus on compassion. Think of your ideal self-compassion. That image will make you think of kindness and warmth. Is it a picture of someone taking care of a cute animal or a baby? Is it a picture of nature? Once you have chosen an image of compassion, visualize it. Imagine the compassion spreading from that image to other people and yourself.

  3. Be kind to yourself. Make no mistake, just learn. Every time you conclude that you have failed, review the lessons learned. This is not an exercise in being someone who is always unrealistically optimistic or optimistic. You need to recognize the knowledge gained from the experience instead of looking at mistakes.
    • For example, if you fail the exam, this may tell you that you need a tutor or ask the teacher for help; This means that you have learned to be disorganized and need to develop an organized way of learning to progress.

  4. Create distance. If you feel overwhelmed by your emotions and you are about to hurt yourself as a way to cope, try creating some distance between you and your thoughts.
    • To gain distance, imagine yourself as an outsider observing a situation that upsets you. Also, try to think of herself from a third-person perspective (eg, she shouldn't hurt herself because it won't really solve the root of the problem).
  5. Be careful. If you are grieving something unrelated to the present (i.e. something that happened in the past or will happen in the future), try focusing only on the present.
    • Pay full attention to bodily sensations, all the different types of information occurring through each of the senses, and your thoughts on perception and bodily sensations.
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Method 2 of 2: Calming with behavior change

  1. Talk to people when you feel down. If you feel comfortable, talk to close friends and family members about how you are feeling right now. You can also seek help from a counselor, doctor, or other medical professional. If you can't afford it, get online advice on a free or affordable service (try Google the phrase: free treatment + your city name). There will always be services available to help people who are suffering.
    • Another option is to confide in others who have hurt themselves; They can provide social support to help calm you down.
    • You can get in touch with many hotlines. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention hotline: 1-800-273-TALK or the Self Injury Foundation: 1-800-334- HELP or National Hopeline Network: 1-800-SUICIDE - is a 24-hour crisis hotline for people attempting to harm themselves or commit suicide. In Vietnam, you can call 1900599930 to contact the Center for Psychological Crisis (PCP).
  2. Do something you're proud of. Find a hobby, activity or hobby that allows you to shine. Do it regularly. This can help you feel better about yourself and distract you from hurting thoughts.
    • To find out what you like, try a few until you become passionate. Try this website for ideas: http://discoverahobby.com/
    • Also ask friends or family about their interests; Sometimes it's more fun to do a hobby if people you know like it too.
  3. Try smiling. You can become calmer by smiling, even if you don't want to. This is called the facial feedback hypothesis; it shows the relationship between emotions and faces in two directions: although we often smile when we feel happy, smiling can actually make us happier or less painful.
  4. Distract yourself. Instead of thinking about a problem that makes you sad, try defusing it by watching a movie, reading a book, or hanging out with friends. If you are receptive to the media, try to avoid anything that makes self-hurting acceptable or enjoyable.
  5. Try reorganizing your awareness. While this is not a substitute for treatment from a mental health professional, you can still try this and other ways to ease your self-harming thoughts. In this approach, try to identify the wrong thought, then challenge it.
    • For example, you might think life is hopeless because you don't have friends. Challenge this by: thinking hard if it is true that you don't have friends. Think if you've had friends before. If so, chances are you will make more friends in the future. Think about the steps it takes to make new friends. If you are living in the US, you can try to find something new interesting on http://www.meetup.com.
  6. Try Socrate questioning techniques. (Socrat was the ancient Greek teacher and philosopher. Socrat's technique of questioning was based on conducting profound and disciplined dialogues.) This technique includes questioning to challenge the accuracy of thinking. It can help you find the usefulness and value of the thoughts that are making you think of hurting yourself.
    • For example, if you feel that you are about to harm yourself in order to feel something, because you feel numb, ask yourself: "Is there an alternative to feeling other than the pain ( How about trying something safer and more interesting ")?
  7. Try an alternative method. This means replacing self-hurting for an unpleasant but ultimately unhealthy experience. This allows you to do self-harm, but your behavior is really harmless.
    • For example, you might eat a chili, grab an ice cube, or take a cold shower instead of engaging in more damaging behavior.
  8. Perform "Counter Action."This approach is part of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, which has been used successfully to treat people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Boundary Personality Disorder often has suicidal and impulsive intentions, and also involves many self-injuring behaviors.
    • Use mindfulness meditation to recognize your present feelings. Identify your motivations to act, such as a specific way of hurting yourself. Try to identify the cause of the emotion. For example, maybe someone has severed your friendship, and you are experiencing self-harming thoughts because you feel no one will be with you.
    • Don't judge your feelings as "bad" or hold back. It's about being, not emotional. Emotions only exist.
    • Consider whether emotional impulse is beneficial or not. Would self-harm help you deal with your feelings of fear that no one is around? The answer is no.
    • Do the opposite of emotional impulse. If the impulse is self-hurting, do the opposite. For example, you might try to write yourself a love letter, or practice loving-kindness meditation.
  9. Join a support group. From time to time the group can help others deal with similar problems. There are several ways to find and join a support group:
    • Find out if there are support groups meeting nearby where you live.If you live in the US, you can visit the website: http://www.selfinjury.com/admissions/locations/
    • Try searching the internet for the term: "self-injuring (or self-injuring) support group + city name or postcode".
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Advice

  • Listen to soothing music or soothing love movies.
  • Try to spend time with good and loving people around you.
  • Find a new hobby or make time for an old one.
  • Remind yourself of the good things in life.
  • Try to have fun from small things, like a good meal, a beautiful sunset, or a compelling novel.

Warning

  • Don't listen to or watch negative or violent things as they can make your mood worse.
  • Avoid alcohol and other drugs. Although they are thought to have soothing effects, alcohol and other drugs make you more prone to self-harm, so it's best to avoid them.
  • If you think someone might be trying to harm themselves, know that there are several risks of self-injury predisposition: women, teenagers or teenagers, who have self-harm. hurt, someone who has recently or is experiencing a serious trauma or emotional event, has a mental health problem such as anxiety or depression, or uses an overdose of medicine.