How long has it been.... recovery type thread

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

So I was just thinking for those of you who want to try and stop self harming we could start a thread and list how many days, weeks, months, years you have gone without self harm. This can be a support like group so that if you are struggling you can ask for help with how to make it to x amount of days without doing it.

Also here is a list of 100 things you can do other than hurting yourself.

1) Exercise, running ect.
2) Putting on fake tattoos
3) Drawing on yourself in red marker (make sure it's washable! )
4) Scribbling on sheets an sheets of paper
5) Writing (poetry, stories, journal, etc.)
6) Cuddling with a stuffed toy
7) Being with other people
8) Watching a favorite TV show (preferably a comedy)
9) Posting on web boards, and answering others' posts
10) Thinking about how I DON'T want scars for the summer
11) Painting your nails
12) Going to see a movie
13) Eating something ridiculously sweet (or any favorite food)
14) Doing school work
15) Surf the net
16) Go into chat rooms to talk
17) Call a friend and ask for company
18) Playing a musical instrument
19) Singing
20) Looking up at the sky (night is especially beautiful)
21) Making your own list of things to do instead of SI
22) Punching a punching bad (with gloves on)
23) Snapping a rubber band on your wrist (or hair band)
24) Cover yourself with band-aids where you want to cut
25) Mix warm water and red food colouring, and put in on your skin (feels and looks like blood)
26) Letting yourself cry (can be very difficult for some)
27) Sleep (only if you are tired)
28) A hot shower, or relaxing bath (no razors in the tub, though)
29) Play with a pet
30) Detangling yarn or necklaces
31) Re-organizing your room
32) Cleaning (hmmm...I very rarely use this one! )
33) Having a pillowfight with the wall (yes, neighbours may think you are crazy, but that's ok)
34) Knitting or sewing
35) Reading a good book
36) Dressing up very glamorous (make sure no one can walk in on you, though)
37) Colouring your hair
38) Listening to music (not angry music though-that can trigger)
39) Watching a candle burn (no playing with the flames! )
40) Finding someone else you can help out
41) Meditate
42) Watching a scary (but not bloody) movie.
43) Work on a website
44) Have a vivid fantasy love affair with a celebrity
45) Go somewhere very public
46) Bake cookies
47) Alphabetize your CD's
48) Chewing leather (especially if you SI by biting)
49) Buy a home Henna tatoo kit (peels off the next day-similar to skin picking)
50) Painting or drawing
51) Ripping paper into itty-bitty pieces
52) Hugs-(this one is very nice...)
53) Writting letters or email
54) Talk to yourself (or if that feels weird, buy a small tape recorder-I then feel like someone is listening)
55) Stroke nice fabrics
56) Hug a pillow
57) Hyperfocus on something like a rock, hand, etc.
58) fingerpaint
59) Scream real loud (I LOOOVE this one-just make sure no one is home)
60) Dance
61) Make hot chocolate (mmmmm....)
62) pop bubble wrap
63) play with modelling clay or Play-Dough
64) count to one hundred
65) Build a pillow fort
66) pop balloons
67) Hug yourself
68) Chase mailmen
69) Reading things in a different language
70) Going for a nice, long drive
71) Complete something you've been putting off
72) Drinking absurd amounts of tea
73) Breaking plastic plates
74) Tearing up socks
75) Throwing socks against the wall
76) Archery
77) Rock climbing
78) Take up a new hobby
79) Organise bills and such
80) Cook a meal
81) Go out for ice cream
82) Buy a stuffed animal (I collect Beanie Babies)
83) Look at pretty things-like flowers or artwork
84) Create Something
85) Pray
86) Make a list of blessings in your life
87) Read the Bible
88) Go to a friend's house
89) Play on a trampoline
90) Take up fencing
91) Watch an old, happy movie
92) Call a Help hotline or your Therapist
93) Talk to someone close to you that knows
94) Throw a temper-tantrum
95) Hit things-other than yourself
96) Ride a bicycle
97) Polish silver or jewellery
98) Gardening or watering house plants
99) Memorizing German poetry (silly, but works! )
100) CHOCOLATE! ! ! ! ! ! !

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

Here is the rest of that list.... 110 more things.... So there is 210 altogether.

101) Feed the ducks or birds or squirrels, etc.
102) Draw on the walls
103) Play with facepaint
104) Do very Glamerous make-up
105) Colour with crayons
106) Memorise a novel or play or song
107) Put on boots and STAMP
108) Stretch
109) Find butterflies
110) Watch fish
111) Come up with baby names (even if you're not pregnant
112) Make mashed potatoes
113) Make a tape of your favorite songs
114) Name all of your stuffed animals
115) Go SHOPPING! ! ! !
116) Get those japamas with slippery feet and slide on the floor.
117) Buy cheap teddy bears and take out anger onthem instead of self.
118) Throw everything (except glass) into the centre
119) Go to a loud concert
120) Play the 15 minute game (say you can't cut for 15 minutes, and when the time is up, start again)
121) Plan your wedding / prom
122) Hunt for stuff on Ebay (you can find ANYTHING there)
123) Alphabetize your books
124) Hunt for your perfect home in the paper
125) Take up Tai Chi
126) Try to make as many words out of your full name as possible, then do your friends names)
127) count ceiling tiles/lights
128) go clubbing
129) search ridiculous things on the web
130) colour-co-ordinate your wardrobe
131) do a home tan on yourself
132) sort all your photographs
133) colour (or scribble) over the pretty women in magazines
134) plan a dinner party
135) play with a slinky
136) but yourself some toys and play
137) start collecting comething
138) get a tattoo / peircing
139) play video/computer games
140) do a trash clean at your local park
141) Play on a swingset
142) go out and perforn a random act of kindness for someone
143) call up an old friend
144) write yourself an "I love you because" letter
145) put on fake nails
145) try to build something
146) re-arrange your house
147) go to a public place and people watch
148) go through all your old stuff
149) go bargain - hunting
150) smile at at least five people (you usually end up smiling genuinely yourself.)
151) go to the zoo and rename all the animals.
152) Listen to birds and talk to them!
153) Start talking about evil bunnies and con fu bananas.
154) use clay and make silly things
155) think about your dream car and what you would do to it.
156) start talking to plants
157) kick around a soccer ball
158) Make fish faces at self in mirror, siblings, neighbors, strangers, pets [including a pet fish!]
159) Play dress up.
160) PHOTOSHOOT TIME!
161) Play with little kids. [they never fail to make you smile ]
162) Go on youtube and watch people's first dance fecitals or VBS shows or musicals or class performances and such...esp. little kids...they're SO CUTE in those things lol.
163) Pray
164) Go for a walk [with or without a friend].
165) Go to the mall.
166) Clean your room. [As long as your tools aren't there.]
167) Try to do handstands.
168) Same thing with cartwheels and bridges and backbends and such.
169) Go to the goodwill or a consignment shop and try on clothes...both ones that you really like and the really silly/old stuff, for laughs!
170) Go to the park and see how high you can swing!
171) See how long you can hop on one leg. Try the other.
172) See how long you can balance on one leg. Then standing on a pillow. Then with your eyes closed. Then with your eyes closed, while standing on a pillow.
173) Teach your pet a new trick.
174) kick a guy you hate in the nuts
175) pretend your teddy bear was drowning, SAVE HIM/HER!
176) go for a walk
177) see how many baby steps it takes to get back home when you go for that walk
178) count EVERYTHING
179) mess up your room, then clean it all up
180) create ridiculous(non-triggering) things to do instead of cutting list
181) eat beans(lots of beans) and go out shopping and fart on random people by "accident"
182) masterbate!
183) write a note to a very useful inanimate object thanking it for how useful its been
184) move EVERYTHING in your room to a new spot
185) run around your house 5 times
186) go on a date with your boyfriend(or yourself if your single)
187) learn a new language
188) Make funny faces at yourself in the mirror
189) Try to cross your eyes
190) See how long you can cross your eyes
191) Get together with friends and play ultimate frisbee
192) Buy a cheap hula-hoop and see how long you can twirl it around your waist/arm/neck/foot/etc...
193) Jumprope. See how long you can go without tripping on the rope xD
194) Go to www.givesmehope.com and read the posts.
195) Go to www.mylifeisg.com and read the posts.
196) Go to www.mylifeisaverage.com and laugh at the stupider of posts xD
197) Randomly go up and hug a friend
198) Randomly go up and hug your parent [their reactions are funny when you first do it! :P If asked why, "No reason. Just felt like it."]
199) Go to the mall and ask people to hug you. If they ask why, tell them either, "A friend dared me to ask people" or "I just feel like giving hugs today." or "My friend and I have a contest going to see how many hugs we can give/get."
200) Wear a cape to the mall. If anyone asks, make something funny up. [i.e. "What cape?" or "To infinity...and BEYOND!" or maybe even "na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na BATMAN!" :P]
201) Set up a stereo somewhere...at the mall in the food court, at the end of your driveway, your room if you're REALLY self conscious [or if people start asking you to quit singing xD] and sing it karaoke style :P
202) Photoshoot for like bebo/facebook/myspace
203) Become poltical, I go anti-bnp/ anti-facist events
204) become a veggie or something you want to become..... enviromentalist
205) Randomly search myspace music for new music. Or use pandora.com
206) Search youtube.com for comedians. Dane Cook works too. So does Jeff Dunham. I had someone to search for, but I forgot. xD
207) Play the "If inanimate objects talked, what would they say?" game.
208) Play the "If inanimate objects talked, what voice would they have?" game.
209) Facepaint
210) Go hang out with a younger neighbor kid. Younger kids are awesome.
211) making a pillow fort
212) sanding raw wood

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

Also I will start..... My last Self Harm was on Jan. 26, 2006. I know that seems like a long time and that I shouldn't count myself as a cutter anymore but I struggle everyday with not picking up a blade to hurt myself. There have been a few days this week that I came close to cutting but I was able to do a few things on that list and it made me forget about doing it.

[MandieV]

It is difficult not to go back to cutting. It has been about a month and a half for me. I have been really tempted lately to give in. Once I get over the temptation/urge and get back to a more calm and reasonable state of mind I am glad that I didn't give in. Good luck to everyone trying to stop. It is not easy, but it is possible.

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

It is difficult not to go back to cutting. It has been about a month and a half for me. I have been really tempted lately to give in. Once I get over the temptation/urge and get back to a more calm and reasonable state of mind I am glad that I didn't give in. Good luck to everyone trying to stop. It is not easy, but it is possible.

Way 2 go!!!! And your right it isn't easy but it is possible!!! Keep up the great work!!!

[sunrayshay]

For me it's been since summer of 05 I've had one slip up that was in 08 but not since!

[unsure]

I havnt self harmed for 11 years, though I thought it was something I'd never do again things have been particularly difficult lately and I've had a couple of time that I got really close to doing it again (even after all this time), I did manage to fight through it and not cut, but I guess I've learnt that you can never say it will never happen again, its just hard finding new releases when life throws more shit at you! Oh great thread btw

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

For me it's been since summer of 05 I've had one slip up that was in 08 but not since!

Great job!!! And I love how you said your last time was 05 but a slip up in 08.... A lot of people get stuck on that if they do it they throw away all there hard work. But as I read yours I felt like you had a slip up but still count 05 as your last one. (if I read that wrong please correct me!!) I think it is important for people to see that you can have slip ups and it doesn't mead all your hard work goes away and that you can still hold onto it. WAY 2 GO!!!! Keep up the great work!!!

I havnt self harmed for 11 years, though I thought it was something I'd never do again things have been particularly difficult lately and I've had a couple of time that I got really close to doing it again (even after all this time), I did manage to fight through it and not cut, but I guess I've learnt that you can never say it will never happen again, its just hard finding new releases when life throws more shit at you! Oh great thread btw

WOW thats a long time!!! WAY 2 GO!!! And yes you can NEVER say it wont ever happen again. All you can do is try and find new and healthier ways of coping with what your going through. Keep up the great work!!!

[The Bright Side]

Very very good thread!!!!!

[sunrayshay]

It's kinda cheating when I say that lol but I think that the one slip up is just that I quit and had a lapse and the strength to leave it at that I use to do it many tines a day so that's pretty damn good.