How to Stop Cutting Yourself

Self-mutilation is a form of self-harm. Self-injury is when someone intentionally injures themselves as a way of dealing with unhappy emotions, complicated situations or experiences. Cutting into your body can make you feel better and more in control in no time. However, in the long run, cutting yourself will only make you feel worse. You may also be putting yourself in a dangerous situation. There’s no magic bullet that will stop you from cutting yourself, but it’s important to be kinder to yourself and not beat yourself up. If you want to recover, there are methods you can take to stop cutting yourself. If you or someone you care about is contemplating self-harm, refer to Additional Resources at the end of the article to find someone you can confide in.

Table of Contents

Overcome the Urgency

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Go where you can’t hurt yourself. If you feel an urge to cut yourself, go somewhere that makes it difficult for you to do so. You can go to a public place such as a coffee shop or living room in your home in the presence of relatives or roommates. ^{[1] X Research Resources} This will help you overcome this unhealthy urge. It will also make you feel better, especially if you are surrounded by people who love and support you.

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Call someone. If you’re home alone and can’t leave the house, when you feel like harming yourself, call someone you’d like to talk to. You can call a relative, a friend you trust, or a hotline. It would be better if you created a directory that holds the phone numbers of people you can call. You can also save their phone number to your mobile phone.

In Vietnam, there are quite a few hotlines that you can call for help. One is 112 , the number for receiving urgent help requests. You can also call 115 , the hotline for emergency medical conditions. And you can also call the hotline 1900599830 for support to take care of your psycho-emotional health.
If you’ve injured yourself or need to see a doctor, call 911 , the emergency medical hotline, so you can get help and get to the hospital right away.
If you live in Hanoi, remember that you can also use 112 or 115 to request emergency help. Or you can call the dedicated children and minors hotline 18001567 . These numbers are all free when calling from a mobile phone or from a landline.

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Distract yourself. A great way to avoid injury is to distract yourself. Not all distraction techniques work for everyone, so you may need to try a few before you can determine which is right for you. Sometimes the trigger or urge can be different depending on your feelings or situation, which means your response to stopping self-harm will also be different. . ^{[2] X Research Source}

Try the butterfly drawing method. When you feel like cutting into your body, draw a butterfly in the area where you want to injure yourself and call that butterfly by the name of someone you love or someone who wants you to be better. If you cut into that position, the butterfly will die. You will have to wash your hands immediately afterwards. If the drawing fades out and you didn’t hurt yourself, the butterfly will be released into nature and be free.
Another idea is to use a pen. Take a red pen and draw some lines, ripples, peace symbols, or any other symbol on the skin you want to cut. When you’re done, count the number of lines you’ve drawn. They are symbolic of the scars you will not receive.
If the above methods don’t work, try dyeing your hair, making a cup of tea, counting from 500 to 1000, trying to solve a puzzle or playing a brain training game, watching passersby, playing play a musical instrument, watch TV or a movie, paint your nails, organize something such as a bookshelf or dresser, origami to keep your hands busy, be active. move, play a sport, go for a walk, plan a dance practice, or work on an art or coloring project. There are endless possibilities that you can do. You just need to find something to distract you. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Delay the act of cutting yourself. Whenever the urge arises, try to delay it. Start with a short amount of time such as 10 minutes and gradually increase the amount of time.

While you wait, think about the scars you wouldn’t want to have and the reasons you don’t need to hurt yourself whether you’re thinking about it or you really want to. injury to yourself. Repeat a self-affirmation, such as “I don’t deserve to be hurt,” even if you don’t believe it. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Remember that you can always choose not to hurt yourself. The decision is entirely up to you.

Learn Coping Strategies

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Use five-sensory techniques. Coping skills are essential to the recovery process. They can help you deal with urges and help produce the same feel-good chemicals in the brain, called endorphins, that are released when you engage in self-injurious actions. . ^{[5] X Research Source} A popular de-escalation technique called the five-sense technique provides you with a way to bring your mind into a calm state so that you can deal with your feelings. painful or extreme emotions that lead to self-injurious actions.

Starting in a comfortable position, you can sit cross-legged on the floor or sit in a chair with your feet on the ground. Then focus on your breathing. Next, proceed to perceive your senses. Take a minute to each sense and focus on each one.
Hearing: Focus on external sounds. Is it the sound of cars running, people talking? Next, let’s focus on the inner sound. Can you hear your breathing or the sound of your stomach digesting your food? As you focused on listening, did you notice any sounds that you hadn’t heard before?
Smell: What scents do you smell? Is food being ordered near you? Or the scent from the flowers outside? You will probably discover scents you haven’t noticed before. Try closing your eyes so you can focus on other senses.
Sight: What do you see? Can you see things outside through the window? Pay attention to details such as color, pattern, shape, and texture.
Taste: What do you taste? Pay attention to any flavors you might feel in your mouth, be it the lingering taste of your morning coffee or the taste of your lunch. Move your tongue around to get a better feel, checking for any strange tastes you come across.
Tactile: Feel the sensation when something touches your skin. It could be the carpet under your feet, the feeling when the clothes you are wearing collide with your skin, or when a breeze blows over your face. Feel the chair you are sitting in. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

READ More: How to Motivate a Friend

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Meditate or pray. Meditating or praying may sound silly, but scientific studies have shown that meditation improves positive emotions, satisfaction, health, and happiness. It also helps reduce anxiety, stress, and depression. ^{[7] X Research Sources} There are many types of meditation, but the overall goal of meditation is to bring about peace of mind.

Start in a comfortable sitting position. Focus on a single point. It can be visual, such as a fixed point in a room, auditory, such as a word or a repetitive prayer, or related physical, such as counting beads on a string. While you focus on a repetitive task or a fixed object, remove all thoughts and focus on the fixed point.
It sounds pretty easy, but focusing the mind is quite a challenge. Don’t be disappointed if you can only focus for a few minutes at first. Keep trying until you can spend hours clearing all thoughts and emptying your mind. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Do breathing exercises. Breathing is a natural response that we can control. Research has shown that practicing controlled breathing has a positive effect on your stress. ^{[9] X Research Source} Stress can be triggered when you want to hurt yourself. Learning new skills can help you control your triggers. ^{[10] X Harvard Medical Schop Trusted Source Go to Source}

Try even breathing. This is a fairly simple technique and is done as follows: after inhaling, count to five, and do the same for the exhale. Focus on each breath.

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Use relaxation techniques. There are quite a few relaxation techniques you can use. Try this imaginative relaxation exercise, where you use your imagination to build a safe place where you won’t want to hurt yourself. You need to create a specific image in your mind. This image needs to be peaceful and can remind you of happy memories. It’s easier to print a picture of a safe place on paper and focus on it than it is to imagine the place. ^{[11] X Research Source}

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Use dynamic relaxation, muscle tension (PMR) therapy. PMR is a form of coping skill that focuses on tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. One benefit of PMR is that it makes you more aware of your body’s physical sensations. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Start in a comfortable position that allows you to target different muscle groups. Most people assume that sitting or lying down is the easiest position to start with. Then focus on a muscle group that you can stretch and then release.
Stretch this muscle group for 5 seconds, just squeeze the muscle group you’re focusing on at that time. After 5 seconds, release the muscle and relax for 15 seconds. Then move on to training another muscle group.
Repeat this method as many times per day as needed.
Isolating specific muscle groups can be difficult, but with practice it becomes easier.
Common muscle areas include your face, hands and arms, abdomen and trunk, and legs and feet. Wear loose-fitting clothes so you can be more comfortable. ^{[13] X Research Source}

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Walk in mindfulness. Going for a walk is quite a relaxing and enjoyable method. Mindful walking is all the more wonderful because it is mindful movement. To be able to walk mindfully, pay attention to your every step. How do your feet feel on the ground? In your shoes? Focus on your own breathing. Pay attention to your surroundings. Take the time to enjoy your surroundings. ^{[14] X Research Source}

The benefits you get from the act of walking mindfully include the ability to be aware of your daily life and focus on your consciousness. Usually, many people find it difficult to meditate in one place, so going for a walk is a more active way to meditate. Going for a walk will also bring you many other benefits. ^{[15] X Research Source}

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Take note of situations that make you want to hurt yourself. Keep a journal of times when you want to harm yourself. When you feel that unhealthy urge, write it down in your journal. Make a note of when you felt this urge and what happened before it reached you. Taking notes will help you identify the framework or emotions that led to the act of cutting yourself. In addition, journaling will help you share your feelings and process your own thoughts. ^{[16] X Research Source}

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Create a box of coping skills. A coping skill box is a type of container you use to store items that help you resist the urge to hurt yourself. You can use a shoebox or a cardboard box and put in the box any items that you think will help you not want to injure yourself. They can be pictures of friends, family, or pets, a diary you can write in, a drawing tool so you can create artwork, or sayings or lyrics. inspirational singing can make you feel better, a CD of your favorite music, any kind of item that can lift your spirits and help you stop thinking about self-injury for yourself. ^{[17] X Research Source}

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Find another method. Some people cut themselves because they are feeling extremely angry, vindictive, frustrated, or in pain. If this is why you decided to take this action, find another method to help release your own emotions.

If you’re angry or frustrated, punch a pillow, go somewhere and shout, tear paper, or squeeze a stress-relieving ball. You can also take a kickboxing or self-defense class. Any activity that can help you release the emotions you often express through cutting yourself will help you avoid self-harm in the future.
Finding the right method can be time consuming. Try a few methods until you can find one that works for your feelings. Remember that they can often change according to the situation. ^{[18] X Trusted Source HelpGuide Go to source}

Speak to Yourself Positively

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Listen to the positive words you say to yourself. Positive self-talk refers to the voice inside your soul, the voice that talks to you in a positive way and is always looking at you. This voice impacts your motivation, outlook, self-esteem, and overall health. Positive self-talk is a great way to boost your confidence, build a healthy lifestyle, and reduce negative thoughts. ^{[19] X Research Source}

Self-talk will also help you maintain a healthy perspective on your own emotions. Remind yourself that feelings and urges to cut yourself are fleeting emotions, not facts. They will pass or may improve. Feelings that make you want to hurt yourself won’t last forever. ^{[20] X Research Source Linehan, MM (1993). Skills Training Manual for the Treatment of Unstable Personality Disorder. New York: Guilford Academy}

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Set up reminders. One way to incorporate positive self-talk into your daily life is to leave visual reminders around you. You can use sticky notes or stick a piece of paper containing positive statements about yourself around your living environment. You can also write the message on the mirror, on the window, or on the whiteboard. This way, you will be able to easily see your daily reminder and it will help improve your mood. You can also easily read positive messages when you are in a state of wanting to cut yourself. Some pretty good messages include:

I am lovely.
I am special.
I am confident.
I can accomplish the goal.
I am pretty/handsome.
My feelings are simply fleeting feelings.
My feelings won’t last forever.
Emotions are not facts.
Self-harm will not help solve the problem.
Self-harm may be temporary, but not long-term, relief.
I can get over my anger/sadness/anxiety without hurting myself.
I can confidently share my feelings with others in this moment.
I can seek help.
I will get over it. ^{[21] X Research Source}

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Keep a journal of your thoughts. Self-talk will help you to recognize and understand thinking patterns that can influence your urge to hurt yourself. The first step you need to take is to learn to see your own thoughts because they often become habits. Many people find it helpful to keep a journal to jot down every thought of the day. Writing them down will allow you to think about your feelings and thoughts more seriously and help you learn how to handle things differently.

The goal is not to change your thoughts but to become aware of those thoughts. This way, you will be able to acknowledge them and help you not to passively take actions that are based on negative thinking and lead to self-injurious behavior. ^{[22] X Research Source}
Write about the situation, thought, feeling, or emotion you are experiencing as well as physical sensations such as energy, stomach cramps, and actions you take.

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Evaluate your own thoughts. Assessing your best friend’s thoughts as well as thought processing can help you form more positive self-talk times and limit the negative thoughts that lead to self-cutting. Is your thinking correct? Take a look at your thinking notebook and evaluate any similar situations you have encountered. Did you learn anything from these situations and what are their long-term consequences? Have you ever handled any situation differently than before? Do you act on negative thoughts?

A good way to gauge negative thinking is to look for statements that contain words such as should, should, or must. These statements are in the form of “all-or-nothing”. This negative, critical thinking will often make you want to harm yourself.
Reread your thought journal, what alternative thoughts could you have made? Writing down positive alternatives can help you beat negative thoughts. ^{[23] X Research Sources}
Consult a friend or loved one you trust if you don’t know if your thoughts are correct.

Preventing a Recurrence

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Eliminate objects that are triggers. To prevent self-mutilation from happening again, you will need to remove the tool you used to perform this action. Throw away any items that you have used in the past to hurt yourself. If you need to spend time looking for items that you can use to injure yourself, you will feel “disinterested”. The time you spend thinking about your actions or additional efforts can act as a deterrent.

Do not place sharp objects on the table and do not store razors in drawers or cabinets where you can easily find them. ^{[24] X Research Sources}
If you don’t want to have to throw your tools away, find ways to increase the delay by wrapping them up and storing them on a tall cabinet that you can hardly reach.
If possible, give them to someone else. This is a way to make sure you won’t be able to find them. You may be quite angry at first, but when the urge wears off, you’ll be grateful that you were able to stop yourself from hurting yourself.

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Identify and avoid triggers. The moment you feel like harming yourself, stop and think about what just happened. They are your triggers. Keep them in mind and stay away from these situations. Sometimes, you can anticipate them, and if you can anticipate these situations, it will be easier to stay away from them.

Common triggers include having problems with others such as being bullied or bullied online, pressure in school, feeling socially isolated, being abused, gender dysphoria personality, and family problems. ^{[25] X Research Sources}
Many people practice cutting themselves at a specific time of day. If you know that you often want to injure yourself in the morning, remember to be extra cautious after waking up. You need to know yourself well and understand what you need to do to be able to deal with the urge in the future.
For example, if you’ve just had an argument with someone close to you, and you’re feeling like you want to hurt yourself, stop and ask yourself what makes you feel this way. : “I want to harm myself because I just had an argument with someone I love, and it makes me feel so bad.” Identify the factors that make the situation you are in trigger negative emotions, such as a particular emotion or action. Practice methods to help reduce this until you can get it under control or until you can get rid of it completely. ^{[26] X Research Source}

Seeking Expert Help

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Search for hidden causes. In some situations, cutting yourself can be a symptom of another medical condition such as depression, anxiety, or another psychological disorder. ^{[27] X Research Source} Cutting into the body can often help ease feelings of anger, guilt, anxiety, isolation, grief, or despair. This action is also seen as a way to express the emotions and pain that you are experiencing.

Other reasons someone might self-harm include the need to have control over their body, especially at a time when you feel out of control. Many people want to injure themselves so they can feel something when their body is paralyzed. Many others take this action as a response to trauma or other problems such as anxiety and depression. ^{[28] X Research Sources}

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Chat with an expert. If you’re having trouble dealing with self-injury and coping techniques and other methods aren’t working, you may need to see a professional so they can help. you change the situation. A counselor, psychologist, or therapist will talk to you about why you want to harm yourself, your feelings, and how to change behaviors related to your behavior. this move.

When you consider joining a treatment group, it’s easy to see that there are quite a few people struggling with the same problem as you.
If you are a minor, tell your parents or guardians that you need to see a mental health professional as soon as possible. Please emphasize that this is an emergency.
If you are an adult and you have health insurance, call your doctor as soon as possible and ask him or her to refer you to a therapist or psychologist who specializes in self-harm. pity yourself. If you are uninsured, search for free or low-cost medical facilities in your area, or ask the clergy for help if you are religious. ^{[29] X Trusted Source HelpGuide Go to Source}

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Quickly seek help. If you have seriously injured yourself, you need to seek help immediately. A serious injury is any cut that bleeds for more than 10 minutes, the bleeding doesn’t stop, or you’ve accidentally cut a strong vein or artery to your body.

You should also seek help quickly if you have suicidal thoughts.

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Get to know the difference. Self-harm is not the same as suicide, but people often confuse the two. The biggest difference is in the intention to end one’s own life. People with suicidal thoughts will not be able to find a way out and want to end their lives. However, people who intend to hurt themselves often don’t want to end up like that because they intentionally want to harm themselves so that they can feel that they are alive or help them cope with life. their. ^{[30] X Research Source}

Scientific research has shown that people who want to injure themselves are more likely to commit suicide in the future. This is often related to other factors such as depression, feeling like there’s no reason to live, or feeling hopeless. ^{[31] X Research Resources} Make sure you are aware of suicidal thoughts and seek help when needed.
Look for signs of suicide, such as they constantly talk about wanting to end or end their life, make statements such as losing all hope, or say they have no reason to stop. living. ^{[32] X Trusted Source National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Go to Source}
If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, seek help. Call 1900599830 to talk to someone about helping someone who is contemplating suicide, or call 112 if someone has already taken the action.

Additional Sources

Organization	Phone number
Emergency Help	112
Emergency Center	115
Talking to Young People	1900599830
Hotline to help children and minors	18001567

Advice

If possible, it’s better to stay away from factors, people, or situations that make you want to hurt yourself. This can often be difficult to make, but these small changes can help you get through it until you can recover, or until they become part of your recovery.
Throw away your razor.
Let someone you know, such as a grandparent, aunt, mother, or friend, whom you love and trust, guide you not to cut yourself. They can also watch over you and make sure you don’t harm yourself.

Steps