Sanative Magazines 50 Alternatives To Self Harm Ordered By Mood.

Sanative Magazine’s 50 alternatives to self harm ordered by mood.

It is important in many peoples recovery journey to have a management plan when working through self harm. People can experience a wide variety of moods when the urge to self harm arises, although this list only deals with a few moods I hope that it is comprehensive and you will be able to understand that if you are feeling jealous you may like to try out the sad suggestions (if you are feeling particularly down), or the angry ones (if you are feeling particularly riled up and filled with frustrated energy).

It is good to have a few ideas that you would be willing to try in mind before the urge becomes too much to bare. Different emotional states often respond best to emotion specific responses, which is why lists like these can help. Keep any ideas that you are drawn to written down and try them next time you are feeling as if you want to self harm. These distraction and self soothing lists will be in constant revision as you find out what works for you (some things won’t work, and often nothing will work 100% of the time, but it is important to keep working at it.)

As with any mental health concern I recommend getting the assistance of a professional to work alongside you in this journey.

Here are a list of some distractions & self soothing ideas based on mood. Some of these activities could overlap into another mood, so don’t feel like they’re set in stone - use whatever you think would be helpful! SAD 1. Cry it out. 2. Watch a ridiculous comedy.  3. Take a warm shower 4. Listen to inspiring, upbeat music. 5. Spend time with a pet. 6. Organise your room 7. Phone a friend or even visit them 8. Read a trashy magazine 9. Make a list of quotes and lyrics that inspire you 10. Make a list of places you’d like to visit, or things you’d like to do within your lifetime. 11. Write how you’re feeling in a journal 12. Go for a long and peaceful walk 13. Bake or cook a favourite dish 14. Go to the movie theatre and watch the next movie that comes on (of course attempting to ensure that it will be trigger free) 15. Watch silly daytime television. 16. Play a video game or a board game. 17. Write letters to your best friends and send them if you wish to. 18. Start drawing, or a create a collage of how you’re feeling - don’t worry about how it looks, no one has to see it. 19. Cuddle a soft toy

ANXIOUS 20. Place a blanket in the dryer and wrap it around yourself 21. Make a cup of tea/coffee and attempt to focus mindfully on your actions whilst preparing and drinking the tea. 22. Look up and learn breathing techniques and mindfulness strategies, if you see a health professional try talking to them about these strategies and work out a plan of how to practice these techniques so that you’ll eventually be able to successfully use them when your urges seem unmanageable. 23. Run yourself a warm bath and fill it with aromatherapy oils. 24. Count by 9’s 25. Paint your nails 26. Colour in a mandala 27. If you are religious, pray or meditate. 28. Take photographs of something that catches your eye. Upload it somewhere like Instagram. 29. Collect a list of silly websites! For example 30. Look up funny cats and dogs on Youtube. Trust me. It’s endless and brilliant. 31. Fill in a CBT ABC worksheet or something similar. You can ask your therapist for something of the sort. Here is a good resource, it contains thought records as well. You can even draw up your own as these are arguably not the most aesthetically pleasing worksheets. http://www.psychologytools.org/download-therapy-worksheets.html 32. Watch a candle burn. 33. Fingerpaint ANGRY 34. Dance to ridiculous music 35. Scream out to music that expresses how you feel 36. Scream into a pillow 37. Punch a pile of pillows  38. Invest in a punching bag. Punch the absolute shit out of it. 39. Write a letter to someone you’re mad - swear at them, scream at them, get it ALL out, and and tear it up 40. Eat a lemon, sour loly, a chili - anything that will focus on your senses without hurting you. 41. Hold ice cubes in your hand, rub them under your knees, on the heels of your feet. 42. Watch a film that makes you laugh. 43. Take your dog for a walk 44. Wash the dishes 45. Go for a run/sprint 46. Write your thoughts on your body in red pen. 47. Hit soft toys/pillow against the wall repetitively. 48. Have a cold shower. With your clothes on if need be. If you get out of the shower and your urges/anger comes back, get in the shower again. ALL: 49. CALL A HELP LINE OR THERAPIST IF YOU ARE IN DANGER OR ARE FEELING UNSAFE LASTLY: 50. Remember that not every distraction will work and it is still important to consider why you are self harming to begin with. According to DBT therapy distractions are not a CURE for self harm, rather they are a technique to be used whilst the urges are too severe to work on. Aftere the urge has subsided it is important to SPEAK TO SOMEONE about how you are feeling. It is 34239534973657864% recommended that you find a health professional you trust to talk through these things with.

I repeat: NOT EVERY DISTRACTION WILL WORK. And those that do may not help every time. A slip up, or a 100, do not make you a “failure” of recovery. The fact that you are actively trying to get help and find other ways of coping is AMAZING. Try (and try and try) not to be hard on yourself!It is important in many peoples recovery journey to have a management plan when working through self harm. It is good to have a few ideas that you would be willing to try in mind before the urge becomes too much to bare. Keep these ideas written down and try them next time you are feeling as if you want to self harm. These distraction and self soothing lists will be in constant revision as you find out what works for you. As with any mental health concern I recommend getting the assistance of a professional to work alongside you in this journey.

Les Mis characterizations I want to see more in fics

Enjolras not as a button-down goodie-two-shoes teacher’s pet, but a kid on the verge of getting expelled because of his demonstrations who spends every day in detention for vandalism or insulting teachers (he started a revolution people, he’s not exactly a rule-follower)

Cosette not as the popular girl but as a loner who’s shy and kind of awkward and doesn’t quite know how to make friends because she spent her entire life in isolation, who people have no problem with but don’t really care about either

Eponine as a bit of the stereotypical Santana Lopez-esque bitch who occasionally does good things that confuse everyone (including herself) and she quickly makes a sarcastic remark to assure everyone that she’s still a bitch (because Eponine is my favourite sassy self-centred asshole who genuinely has a good heart, but she’s still a self-centred asshole most of the time)

Feuilly actually having characterization

Marius being a hardworking, intelligent, emotional, brave man who worked hard to get to where he was

Enjolras and Marius having mutual respect for each other like they did by the end of the brick (Enjolras pointed to him and said “that’s the leader follow him” for god’s sake)

I just needed to say that because fics are annoying me all the time

I’m a bit late for #washetteweek2017, not completely though :D

list of lgbt+ books with happy endings

(that don’t end with the couple splitting jfc) 

 please add to this post if you know any others too!

the dark wife by sarah diemer (tw: non-explicit rape)

all for the game trilogy by nora sakavic (tw: non explicit rape, violence, blood, drug use, death, and others)

the errant prince by sasha l. miller

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alirez sáenz 

everything leads to you by nina lecour

boy meets boy by david levithan (tw: mild homophobia)

know not why by hannah johnson

carry on by rainbow rowell

one man guy by michael barakiva

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli

i’ll give you the sun by jandy nelson (tw: non explicit rape)

the darkest part of the forest by holly black

ash by malinda lo

Bored of being told to listen to classical music? Here is a list of great study music from your favorite video games, movies and more. 

aesthetics and smooth

lofi hip hop radio 

anime vibes

dozing off *

soft piano

nostalgic *

synthwave

video games

compilation

animal crossing *

final fantasy 

fez

pokemon

zelda

nintendo 

assassins creed 

mario bros

ambient sounds

hufflepuff common room *

slytherin common room

ravenclaw common room

gryffindor common room

hagrids hut

diagon alley

the hall of faces (game of thrones)

the green dragon inn (lotr)

spaceship bedroom

medival towns

fireplace

from the screen

the hobbit

harry potter

disney

studio ghibli 

the grand budapest hotel *

amelie

pirates of the caribbean

narnia

how to train your dragon

clockwork orange

moonrise kingdom

twin peaks

acoustics / bands (with lyrics)

the paper kites

gregory alan isakov

soley

crywolf

mogwai

* personal favorites 

TURN videos for amctv