Effective Strategies to Resist Self Harm Urges

"Some effective ways to resist thoughts of self harm include dipping your arm or any body part in ice cold water, taking a cold shower, using a hair tie or rubber band around your wrist and pulling it so it slaps you, using red paint if you do it for the red, distraction, getting out of the environment you're immediately in, going on walks, using ice cubes or rubber bands to create non-harmful physical sensation, exercising, speaking with a licensed therapist, making a list of all the things you can do to distract yourself, journaling, meditating, listening to relaxing music while practicing deep breathing, going for a walk or exercise, taking a friend out for ice cream, putting intrusive thoughts in a character's voice (like Moira's from Schitt's Creek), finding friends from self help and therapy groups with similar tendencies that you can vent to, distracting yourself with something you still enjoy or sleeping, getting a red marker and making lines or making some red ice cubes and letting it melt on you, distracting with shower/videos/video games, drawing with red washable markers and then icing over what you drew, using an app called Calmharm, using temporary tattoo markers/henna markers and drawing on your skin, using slap bracelets, and playing intriguing games on your phone."