For multiple days straight, I, instead of doing wschoolwork during school hours in side of the school building, have been drawing on every single lesson.
To be more specific i was doing an "art study" - as some might call it - of a certain artist!!!!!!! Theyre called aspentea on (i think???) all of their platforms so yeah
I would love to post my drawing but theres so much controversy in the art community on this specific topic that I think id rather not risk it lol haha
I rlly adore they way they do colors and shading yeah
(:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅) Alternatives to Self-Harm (:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅)
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or therapist; I am just someone who has a history with self-harm and wants to help a little bit. This post is intended to provide individuals who do self-harm with alternatives and an exploration of how to reduce or stop self-harming behaviours. This post is neither intended to speak down to individuals who do self-harm, nor is it intended to encourage self-harm. It is a neutral post with the intent of harm reduction, which is completely compliant with Tumblr's Terms of Service. Disclaimer over ♡
Self-harm serves many purposes for the people who engage in it, and can be addictive. It can be very difficult to stop self-harming, especially when you have been using it as a coping mechanism for a long time. If you would like to stop self-harming or try to self-harm less, it's important to understand what you're getting out of self-harm and what emotions you're regulating with self-harm, so you can understand what kind of alternatives might work for you.
Many people use self-harm as a form of grounding and quelling anxiety. Self-harm can release endorphins and dopamine - in simple terms, there are "brain feel good" chemicals. This is part of why self-harm can be addictive. Others use self-harm as a way to feel something when they feel mentally or physically numb. There are multiple other reasons why people may self-harm, but most fall under these two umbrellas.
Something you will see often when talking about self-harm reduction is TIPP: Temperature, Intense exercise, Progressive muscle relaxation, and Paced breathing. These are different grounding and emotional regulation techniques which can help reduce or eventually replace the urge to self-harm. You want to pick something that is going to align with what you want out of self-harm. If you are feeling numb, exercise or "temperature" (like dunking your face in ice water or holding ice) are good picks. If you are feeling anxious, paced breathing and muscle relaxation may be better picks.
Essentially, the goal of stopping self-harm isn't simply to stop self-harming; it's to replace self-harming with a different and healthier coping mechanism.
Alright! Sorry for the long intro, but under the "read more" I give some alternatives for self-harm. I've split them into three sections: replacing the rush, replacing the visuals, and replacing the feeling.
♡ Replacing the Rush ♡
We want to try and give ourselves a safe but very strong sensory experience. Shocks to our system like this can help distract our brains, and some studies show that strong sensory feelings can release dopamine and endorphins. This is part of why self-harm is so addictive since it releases the chemicals, but we can get very similar mental results using methods that are kinder to our bodies ^-^
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+ Eat something with a very intense flavour. Super sour candy, salt and vinegar chips, spicy candies or snacks, anything that has a flavour so strong that you have a reaction to it. Some examples of candies or snacks that you can use for this include:
For sour: Warheads, Toxic Waste, Cry Baby Tears, Mike & Ike Sours, Sour Skittles, Sour Patch Extreme, if you have a high sour tolerance you can also get some straight citric acid (the thing that makes stuff sour) and sprinkle it over your candies to make them even more sour.
For Spicy: Atomic Fireball, Red Hots, Skwinkles, Cinnamon Bears, Hot Tamales, Flaming Hot Cheetos, Fuego Takis, if you have a high spice tolerance, you can also get some powdered ghost pepper seasoning and sprinkle it over whatever your favourite chips are to make them even hotter.
+ Dunk your face in ice-cold water. Or your hands, or if you want to, you can take a quick cold shower. If you don't like the feeling of being wet or don't have a bowl that is big enough for this, ice packs are your best friend. Run an ice pack along your arms, hold it on the back of your neck, or rub it on your chest. Cold sensations are very good for calming the brain and quelling anxiety (I use ice packs to help prevent panic attacks frequently).
+ Move around. Go for a walk or run, do jumping jacks in your room, run in place, walk up and down the stairs, anything that is going to get your body moving and raise your heart rate a little bit. This can help release both endorphins and dopamine, which can help replace wanting to get those from self-harming.
+ Smell something very strong. Essential oils tend to be the easiest for this; ones like peppermint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, or ylang ylang are very strongly smelling. You can also smell something like VapoRub or other things intended to clear nasal passageways, although be aware that if you do this too frequently, you can damage your nose. Try not to use anything like a nasal spray or something like that, our goal here is not to clear out our nose - it's to have the strong sensory experience caused by the smell itself.
♡ Replacing the Visuals ♡
It's super common to crave the visuals of self-harm. Some of us think it's pretty or soothing to look at, so recreating these visuals in a less harmful way can be soothing to look at, too.
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+ Consider a skin-safe pen or marker to make red lines on your skin where you want to cut. Some of them have fine-tips as well, which can help somewhat simulate the feeling of cutting as well. Sharpie skin markers, BIC Bodymark temporary tattoo pens, surgical skin markers, Crayola washable markers, microblading markers, and Pilot high-tech skin-safe pencils are all designed for use on skin and can be washed off later. (You can also use normal sharpies and pens as long as the ink is non-toxic and you don't go crazy with it. The alcohol from the inks will seep through your skin and can make you sick if you use too much.)
+ If you like the dripping, consider a tattoo or other skin-safe ink to drip onto the area you want to self-harm. This may stain your skin. Just be aware, you can usually get the stains off with a little bit of rubbing alcohol or dish soap.
+ Make fake blood to drip on the areas you want to cut. There are a ton a recipes but here are just a few that are safe to put on your skin:
5tbs corn starch, 1/3 cup water, 3 drops red food colour, 1 drop green food colour.
Clear glue mixed with a little water & red food colouring
Corn syrup & red food colouring, with a little corn statch to thicken it if needed.
♡ Replacing the Feeling ♡
Sometimes, especially if you use self-harm to combat numbness, you will crave the physical sensation. I find these to be some of the more beneficial ones if you are having a difficult time resisting urges with other methods, or if you are just starting to try and quit, since they feel the most similar to self-harming.
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+ Run ice cubes along the area that you want to self-harm. The cold sensation can give you a physical sensation to latch onto.
+ Snap a rubber band on the area you want to self-harm. This will give you the stinging sensation that you're after. This can still leave welts and bruises on your skin; however, it is much less damaging than cutting.
+ Consider purchasing a Wartenburg Wheel. These are spiky wheels originally used to test nerve sensitivity, but they're not super common in medicine anymore. They're a good way to have a sharper physical sensation without actually damaging your skin.
+ Consider a self-harm recovery pen. They typically have one piece that scratches the skin (to simulate the feeling) and another that drips red ink down next to it (to simulate the blood). I have never personally tried one, but when I tell you guys I have wanted one for SO long, I may actually end up buying one. If I do, I will let you guys know what I think of it.
That is all I have for today! I may make a post in the future which condenses these down into images that you can save with the tips on them, so that A) you don't have to read quite as much and B) it's more easily saveable and reference-able, so you can just pull it up whenever you want.
I love you guys. I hope you are all safe, and please remember that if you self-harm, you are not alone, you are not "wrong" for doing it, you are not "broken" or any of that bullshit. Don't let anyone make you feel lesser or embarrassed because of it. ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
If there are any questions, comments, or concerns, do not be afraid to comment or send me an ask ^-^
I feel like such things are LONG overdue (considering the person I happen to be). I would like to present to you Chocolate Cranberry Cookie and Strawberry Tart Cookie!!!
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I want to tell their lore now but its like super unfinished...? I do have a few things that ARE set in stone tho!
All I want you to know right now is that Chocolate Cranberry Cookie is partially from the Ddark Cacao Kingdom and partially from the Hollyberry Kingdom, and that she is a long-time friend of Dark Choco Cookie.
Whereas Strawberry Tart is... the "little one" that Cream Ferret Cookie constantly talks about... that's lowkey all I have for STC rn... which I admit, is very little!!!!! I need to learn more lore!!!!!!!!!!!!
vlogs, blogs and logs – I swear I do want to share!
I have a hard time truly deciding whether I want to host a blog or a vlog
Vlog - I feel like a vlog could be kinda cool to have but I also know of the way some people tend to be treated if it becomes known to their sureoundings that they have a vlog. Perhaps blong have the same issue, but in my case itd be easily avoidable as I avoid personal information. Its more time-consuming and my privacy would feel a bit... attacked. It is still favorable to me in certain ways (see below). Although... if I were to make a mistake with my face shown I think Id never live it down and never post again lol... It would also allow me to practice my english in actual... well, not conversation, but just talking yk?
Blog - Though it may seem to be a more comfortable medium, it has so many limits itd kill me if I decided to use a vlog to show my art and tell what i want to tell. In a vlog you can show such things easily, rotate them, even show the process of making them... But with a blog I don't have to try for expressions or the right tonations or making my jokes a bit more obvious or my looks. It is so much easier and I can just write and link images or videos...
Deciding so far has been a nightmare, if anyone has any suggestions or thinks that there is more I should take into consideration - please do tell! ^^
Okay so... I lowkey redecorated my room, got a bunvh of phones and stuff added to ym collection, my oarents got a 3d printer, i finished SVSSS and the 1st volume of the hunters gotta lay low, i got a bunch of DVDs to watch... Oh yeah, I watched the bee movie. It was absolutely terrible. I regret nothing tho
I watched OHSHC and the given series and am planning to watch the movie too, after watching the entirety of revolutionary girl utena...
I redesigned a bunch of my OCs and made new ones and I'm currently fully re-starting my uhhhhhhhhh OCverse(??idfk) so that's fun.
Im also thinking whether not to kinda... maybe... do a vlog since i feel like thatd give me more freedom and I think its just more interesting? i think id be kinda really scared at first tho... but something like that does sound cool.
I also tried out FL Studio and im still messing around with it from time to time and Im planning on learning ren py someday because i rlly want to make a game about my internal experiences because a clouded mind and the state of constant confusion was how i lived for a long while...
So yeah that's all the soemwhat important stuff I can list off the top of my head.
I simply must give you all my sincerest apologies for not posting for a time of LONGER THAN A WEEK!!!!!!! I shall update you guys on some projects I'm doing/stuff I'm making in a few hours since thats when I'll be home and able to do so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2087
izzy806
prguitarman
andulkaphoto
dailybridgerton
