These might help when you are feeling angry/restless

• Scribble on photos of people in magazines
• Viciously stabbing an orange
• Throwing an apple/pair of socks against the wall
• Having a pillow fight with the wall
• Screaming very loudly
• Tearing apart newspapers, photos, magazines or phonebooks
• Go to the gym, dance, (exercise)
• Listening to music and singing along loudly
• Draw a picture of what is making you angry
• Beat up a bear
• Pop bubble wrap
• Pop balloons
• Splattering paint
• Scribbling on a piece of paper until the whole page is black
• Throwing darts at a dartboard
• Go for a run
• Write your feelings on paper then rip it up
• Repetitively write down how you feel (eg. angry)
• Use stress relievers

These work by giving a sensation (instead of pain) but without hurting yourself

• Hold ice in your hands/against arm/ in mouth
• Run your hands under freezing cold water
• Snap a rubber band/hair band against your wrist
• Clap your hands until it stings
• Wax your legs
• Drink freezing cold water
• Splash your face with cold water
• Put PVA glue on your hands then peel it off
• Massage where you want to hurt yourself
• Take a hot shower/bath
• Jump up and down to get some sensation in your feet

These work by distracting you/ taking up some time

• Say "I’ll self harm in 15 minutes if I still want to" then after 15 minutes the urge might have gone. If not, see if you can go another 15
• Colouring your hair
• Count up to ten getting louder until you are screaming
• Sing on the karaoke machine
• Complete something you’ve been putting off
• Take up a new hobby
• Make a cup of tea
• Telling and laughing at jokes
• Play solitaire
• Count up to 500 or 1000
• Surf the net
• Make as many words out of your full name as possible
• Count ceiling tiles/lights
• Search ridiculous things on the web
• Colour co-ordinate your wardrobe
• Play with a slinky
• Play with toys
• Go to the park and play on the swings etc.
• Call up an old friend
• People watching
• Carry safe things in your pockets rather than sharps
• Do school work
• Play a musical instrument
• Watch a film/TV
• Paint your nails
• Colouring in
• Alphabetise your CDs/books
• Cooking
• Origami (to occupy your hands)
• Doodling on sheets of paper
• Dressing up
• Computer games
• Write out lyrics to your favourite song
• Sport
• Read a book/magazine
• Do a crossword

These ones are just weird or funny, if nothing else they will make you laugh

• Crawl on all fours and bark like a dog
• Make weird noises (eg. Animal noises)
• Run around the garden screaming
• Laughing for no reason whatsoever
• Make funny faces in a mirror

These might help when you are feeling sad/guilty/want to "punish" yourself

• Congratulate yourself on each minute you go by without self harming
• Drawing/painting
• Look at the sky
• Instead of punishing yourself by self harming, punish yourself by not self harming
• Call a friend and ask for company
• Buy a cuddly toy (collect them maybe)
• Give someone a hug
• Put a face mask on
• Watch a favourite TV programme/film
• Eat something ridiculously sweet!
• Cuddle a soft toy (eg. One of the bears in the kitchen)
• Remember a happy moment and relive it for a while in your head
• Treat yourself to some chocolate
• Try to imagine the future and plan things you want to do
• Look at things that are special to you (eg. Photos)
• Be nice to someone, makes you feel good about yourself (eg. Compliment someone0
• Make sculptures (clay/plasticine)
• Watch fish
• Let yourself cry
• Play with a pet
• Have/give a massage

These might help if you are feeling scared/panicky/unreal

• See, hear and feel, 5 things, then 4, then 3 etc (It makes you focus on your surroundings and works to calm you down)
• Listen to soothing music
• Meditate
• Name all of your soft toys
• Hug a pillow
• Hyper focus on something
• Do a "reality check list", write down all the things you can list about where you are now (e.g. It is the 15th September 2010, I’m a room and everything is going to be alright)
• Give someone a hug (with permission)
• Drink herbal tea
• Crunch ice
• Hug a tree
• Go for a walk (only if it feels safe)
• Feel your pulse (to prove you’re alive)
• Cuddle a soft toy

These might put you off the idea of harming yourself

• Think about how you don’t want scars
• Treat yourself nice
• Remember you don’t have to hurt yourself just because the thought comes into your head
• Create a safe place for you to go
• Acknowledge that self harm is harmful behaviour, say "I want to hurt myself" rather than "I want to cut"
• Repeat to yourself "I don’t deserve to be hurt" even if you don’t believe it
• Remember that you always have the choice not to cut- it’s up to you what you do
• Think about how you will feel afterwards, eg. Guilty?
• Remind yourself that the urge to self harm is impulsive. You will only feel like cutting for short bursts of time.
• Avoid temptation
• Get your friends to make you friendship bracelets- wear them around your wrists to remind you of them when you want to cut
• Be with other people
• Make your own list of things to do instead of self harm
• Make a list of your positive things and why you don’t deserve to be hurt

These might help if you want to see blood

• Draw on yourself with red pen or body paint
• Cover yourself with plasters where you want to cut
• Henna
• Make ‘wounds’ with make-up eg. Lipstick!
• Put on fake tattoos

Confused: to help you work through and understand your feelings

• Phoning someone, talking
• Make a collage of how you feel
• Negotiate with yourself
• Identify what is hurting so bad that you need to express it in this way
• Write in a diary
• Try to work out why you feel like self harming
• Fill in a questionnaire "Why do I feel like self harming?"
• Talk to a member of staff
• Make lists of everything (e.g. blessings in your life)
• Make a notebook of song lyrics that you relate to
• Call a helpline
• Write a letter to someone telling them how you feel (you don’t have to send it if you decide not to)