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Avatar universal

Help with cutting?

Im 16 and have been diagnosed with depression since 2. On top of that i have anxiety and a mood disorder. For the past 4 years ive had problems with cutting and suicide. Ive been put into hospitals since i was 12 to try to help me with evrything. After all this time i want to know how can you stop the urges to cut and kill yourself?
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1628333 tn?1299723160
Hi Gabby,
I too used to be depressed and have been hospitalized 3 times. The ice thing works, you can also keep a rubber band around your wrist and whenever you feel like cutting, pull the rubber band back and let it snap on your wrist, just keep lifting it up and letting go until you can't do it anymore. This is much safer than cutting and can teach the brain to link cutting with the snapping, and you won't want to do it anymore. You can also visit my website http://jenniferwarrendesigns.com. It is a blog for teens about how to beat your depression. Check it out! I hope this helps. Take care!
Jennifer W
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank u for ur ideas. Luckily im not cuttin. But im afraid tht somethin will trigger it n ill cut deep again. Idk. It just seems tht wen somethin great happens theres somethin horrible tht will happen afterwards. As much as i try to think positivly it wnt happen. Its like the only thing i can do is just hope i dnt cut or try to kill myself again
Helpful - 0
1327415 tn?1294057889
hey Gabby,
i've been in hospital too for a while, i'm 17 now and was discharged about 2 months ago, while i was their it was very hard to get hold of anything to cut so i couldn't cut most days and then when i did it was very bad and i had to go to AandE for stitches ..... anyway i think my point is that i'm sorry to say that for me and other cutters i know techniques just can't work long term... the butterfly project is sweet and i tried it and it did stop me a couple of times.... but ultimately the only thing that can end this is you and the way you think. its grate that your trying to stop... thats the first step for you, once its starts annoying you and then it begins not helping and thats when you start to stop, it just will stop helping soon and you will either cope or find new ways to deal with things, it is so hard and trust me i know its so hard. but give it time, its like giving up anything addictive it doesn't happen quickly.... in fact i think its much much harder than any other addiction.... except for me now my eating disorders.
i will answer questions as best i can when i can.
i hope it goes well for you and you manage to take those steps towards stopping. xxx
Helpful - 0
1572617 tn?1305237554
There is this project, and I don't exactly know if it works but it's worth trying I think. It's called the butterfly project. The rules:
Everytime you feel the urge to cut, draw a butterfly instead. Name it after a loved one. Once you cut again, all butterflies u have drawn die.

There are other possibilities, but they are all based on setting your mind off things, some examples: drawing, put on music very loud and sing with it. Write down your irritations, your feelings. Call someone you love(friends, family)
Things like that....

Message me when you have any questions.
Xxx
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
There are ways to stop the urge to cut.  My therapist recommended taking a piece of ice from the freezer anytime I got the urge.  She told me to hold the ice even when it starts to burn and hurt and my hand goes numb, and then go sit down and watch a movie that's not sad to distract me from the thoughts before my brain could stop focusing on the cold/pain of the ice and go back to the urges I was having.  It worked fairly well the couple times I did it.
Helpful - 0
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