self harm urges

[bluesunday]

i’m 12 & recently i’ve been getting urges to self harm. it happens almost every other day & i can’t stop thinking about it. ive held it once but never got the guts to fully attempt it. i dont know what to do ,, the urges are getting stronger & im becoming weaker

i need advice to stop

[Sophie_M]

Hey bluesunday,

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad you have found us here during what sounds like a really challenging time. 

It was so brave of you to reach out here. We can understand how difficult it must be to be going through these urges. We have reached out to you via email to check in privately, but wanted to provide some extra support here too. If you feel unable to keep yourself from acting on your thoughts about self-harm, this is an emergency, and you need to call 000 (triple zero). If you do not need immediate support, here are some other good options:

•  Headspace: Chat with a clinician online or over the phone on 1800 650 890 (3pm-10pm every day). They have some great self-guided, interactive activities, too.
• Kids Helpline: Available 24/7 for ages 5–25. You can call 1800 55 1800 or use their webchat to talk to a counsellor.
• ReachOut: ReachOut have a range of resources including online chat with a peer worker and self-help strategies for self-harm

There’s also our lovely Support Service team, on 1300 22 4636 or online.

In the meantime, do you have any strategies of your own that you have been using to help ride the wave of those urges? 

Thank you again for sharing. It is no doubt hard to reach out and took a lot of bravery to share here with us. We hope that you can treat yourself with kindness as you navigate through this. We are here for you whenever you need.

Take good care of yourself bluesunday 💙

Sophie M

[bluesunday]

hello! thank you for checking in 😄 lately i’ve been distracting myself by talking to my friends & drawing & it’s really helping 

[smallwolf]

hello and welcome.

Just to add to what Sophie M said... 

You mentioned you have been distracting yourself and drawing?  And sounds to be helping you.  I hope you don't mind me adding a suggestion and lifeline has a good page with information (https://toolkit.lifeline.org.au/topics/self-harm/what-is-self-harm) but it also mentions an app called Calm Harm - I use this app myself, despite my age. It was suggested to me by my therapist.

Not something you have to try, but hope you dont mind me mentioning it.

Hope you are doing OK