Self-harm harm reduction resources (Tumblr post version some links are broken on this version, sorry)
This blog provides information for individuals who self-harm on harm reduction, also known as harm minimisation. Self-harm can never be completely safe, but even small changes can make a big difference. My website also has information about self-harm reduction.
Harm reduction can be useful to people who cannot or do not want to quit self-harm yet as well as people working to quit self-harm.
I am not a medical or mental health professional. Non-recovery mental health/vent blogs/etc. are safe to interact with this blog.
F.A.Q. - Please read before sending an ask
[PT: F.A.Q. - Please read before sending an ask]
Q: "What kind of asks do you answer?"
A: This blog is primarily for asks about self-harm harm reduction, but other asks relating to sh are ok as well. Please check your question isn't already answered in the F.A.Q. below before sending it. If your looking for emotional support as opposed to practical advice you would probably find better support elsewhere, check out the resources linked at the top of this post.
Please do not include specifics about injures or how you've hurt yourself unless necessary for the question. If I think an ask includes too much detail that could be triggering I will answer it with certain parts removed. Do not send asks with images of SH or SH tools.
Please make it clear if you would/would not like advice! [Pt: Please make it clear if you would/would not like advice! /end PT] - you can do this by asking a specific question or saying something like "I am/am not looking for advice on this".
Q: "When will my ask be answered?"
A: its currently taking me a week or longer to get to an ask, off topic asks will take longer. Do not send me urgent asks, instead talk to a medical professional or someone else who can help you more immediately.
Q: "Do you answer asks about eating disorders/substance use/etc?"
A: I don't know as much about these things and it's not the blogs focus, but I will try to answer asks about things beside SH. Please do not include specific numbers about eating disorders. You can find info on ED harm reduction here and here.
Q: "How do I treat a cut/burn/etc?" "when do I need to go to hospital?"
A: Info on first aid for cuts, for burns, for bruising, and for bites. If you have poisoned yourself/overdosed call poison control, emergency services (112, 911, 999, 000, etc.), or go to hospital. If you think you need urgent or emergency medical attention, seek it.
Q: "is this infected? How do I treat it?"
A: Information on infections/when to seek care here
Q: "How do I avoid/quit SH?"
A: Check the tag #avoiding sh on this blog or you can find resources for avoiding sh here
Q: "What happens if you go to hospital for SH?"
A: It varies from place to place, but here's how it generally goes based of my own and others' experiences.
Q: "Does XYZ count as self-harm?"
A: If your hurting yourself then yes, even if it doesn't leave a large or visible injury.
Q: "Is it normal for shallower cuts/burns to hurt more then deeper cuts/burns"
A: Yes, closer to the surface of your skin there are more nerve endings which send signals to your brain to make you feel pain. If you cut through the nerves these signals travel along your brain won't receive the signals and won't feel as much pain. These nerves can often heal themselves but sometimes the damage can be permanent causing numbness, chronic pain, mobility issues, etc. If you suddenly stop feeling pain or touch or are unable to move any part of your body after harming yourself seek immediate emergency medical attention.
Q: "Is it safe to injure [part of body]?"
A: Self-harm is never safe (even if your injuries are minor, accidents can still happen) but some areas are safer then others due to having less risk of nerve damage, serious bleeding, scars that affect mobility, etc. Here is a diagram of safer/less safe areas, the outline on the left is a front view and the outline of the right is a back view.
Q: "How do I store/clean my sh tools?"
A: Here is info on self-harm tool safety.
Q: "How do I fade/hide and accept my scars?" "How did I prevent my scarring?" "Why are scars 'bad'?"
A: Here is info on scars.
Tags
[Pt: Tags]
#Off topic - posts/reblogs not about self-harm harm reduction
#Experiences - asks/posts of other people sharing their experiences with self-harm
#Avoiding sh - advice on how to avoid or quit self-harm, such as ideas for alternatives or distractions
#Self care - posts/reblogs about self-care while living with a psychosocial disability/Madness
#Positivity - positivity for people who self-harm or live with a psychosocial disability/Madness
#Polls - polls about how this blog and the website are run
#Maintenance - posts about the blog/website themself
#Asks
#Anon
Trigger warnings tagged as "#tw [thing]", for example "#tw spiders". Self-harm is not tagged for, but "#tw injury description" is used for more detailed description of injuries or sh that may be triggering.
Disclaimers:
This blog does not endorse self-harm, eating disorders, or other behaviours that can be harmful to someone's mental or physical health. Recovery, mental health treatment, and cessation of self-harm is also supported and advocated for (when it is right for the individual) on this blog. Harm minimisation has been recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence as a technique for people who self-harm.
This blog's generalised information is a limited summary of diagnosis, treatment, and/or medication information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, treatments, medications, side effects, or risks that may apply to a specific patient. It is not intended to be medical or mental health advice or a substitute for the medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment of a health care provider. Patients must speak with a health care provider for complete information about their health, medical questions, and treatment options. This information does not endorse any treatments or medications as safe, effective, or approved for treating a specific patient.
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i love āunpalatableā disabled people. pessimistic disabled people, bitter and angry disabled people, disabled people who are suicidal, disabled people who are ashamed, disabled people who harm themselves, disabled people whoāve been labelled as disruptive or hard to be around or impossible to accommodate. you are loved even if the world is often cruel to you. you deserve warmth and wonder.
The thing with self harm advice is that the reason that people SH are so varied to begin with. For me I mainly did it as a kind of release and other times as a sort of way to ground. So the tips to prevent it that involved some other sort of sensory thing (ice on my arm seemed to really work for me and I still use that and having objects on hand that have an interesting texture to ground myself with for instance) were helpful for me because they accomplished something similar.
But if someone specifically enjoys the feeling that sort of pain brings, does it out of self hate, does it when having some sort of episode where they canāt easily think of coping skills or just likes how it looks thatās probably not gonna help.
Itās not that the advice is bad itās just that it doesnāt apply to everyone and thatās a huge problem psych has overall. Even before you take into account things like economic status, race, gender and even physical safety.
People want there to be one straightforward and simple narrative about self harm so badly that it's negatively impacting everyone's ability to actually have constructive conversations about it
I hate the push that you can quit addictions by pure willpower because it perpetuates the idea that people who can't have committed a moral failing of some kind. We all may know some people who did quit an addiction cold turkey, and with no aid, you may be one of them. And that's fantastic, but it is not the norm. It is more than okay to need help to quit an addiction. Relapse is also part of the process. Many people relapse several times before they are able to quit for good. Let's have compassion.
ALCOHOL. Itās a very common dependence and cold turkey CAN KILL YOU. A lot of people donāt know this. Doctors can literally prescribe beer in the ER to save a life.
ą½ą½« Aftercare for bulimia relapse (self-induced vomiting variant) ą½ą½
I found some good harm reduction posts about bulimia on tumblr but wanted to add an after-care list for those who need it. This list mostly applies to those who purge by self-induced vomiting, but I want to emphasise that every form of an ED is valid. I don't condemn purging, but I would never promote it in any way because there is no "safe" amount of purging!
āāāāāāāā
ā® be kind and gentle to yourself; slip-ups happen, try to accept it and move on
ā® maybe my most important advice: Rinse your mouth with one tsp baking soda dissolved in a glass of water. It neutralises the acid and decreases your chance of teeth damage!
ā® rehydrate by drinking water but don't chug it down. I advise to take electrolytes to prevent electrolyte imbalances (You don't want your heart to suddenly stop beating, right?)
ā® if possible, eat a little snack (purging is stressful for your body and food is fuel, not an enemy. Although, if it massively triggers you to b/p again, I'd say to not go near food for a while)
ā® even though I said eat a snack, don't eat something very sugary or acidic the next 60 mins
ā® Leave the bathroom/kitchen/place you just binged or purged in as soon as possible
ā® NEVER brush your teeth immediately after! Wait at least 30 mins, however 60 mins are better to be sure. You would brush your stomach acid even deeper into your precious teeth. They don't grow back.
ā® If you rupturedĀ your esophagus, puked blood, feel dizzy and faint or that anything is off, don't hesitate to call for an ambulance! Your life is important and calling the ambulance (even if it turns out you didn't have to call them is) better than regretting to not have called them sooner or dying.
ā® check for signs of internal bleeding. I like this website for advice on what to do if you puked blood.
ā® If your face has swelled the next day, don't freak out, use a cooling pack. It's your overwhelmed lymph system and it will probably get back to normal if you don't purge again
ā® Lie down on your left (for acid reflux prevention), e.g. on your bedĀ or sit in a relaxed position
ā® use skills for distraction or emotional regulation (whatever you need right now, like reading/drawing/throwing a ball/ snapping a rubber band on your wrist/using a sensory toy...) or write a skill list if you don't have already
ā® Talk to somebodyĀ you trust, seek comfort
ā® if the episode was very intense, avoid spicy or hard to digest food in the following days
ā® Clean yourself and the environment up if your body is strong enough yet. If you need time, give yourself time.
āāāāāāāāā
Hope this helps, let me know if you have more tips for aftercare. I wish everyone the best and I'm sorry if you read this after a relapse. Stay strong! This disorder is fightable and you are worth it.
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Adjusting your hygiene routine to fit your disability isn't "gross".
Getting clean is one of the hardest parts of a lot of disabilities. Some hygiene solutions from other disabled people, some of which have really helped me, are:
- Bathing. I kind of hated the idea of bathing a lot at first because I'm afraid of water, but once I started it wasn't too bad. Adding a bath bomb or bubble bar can make it feel more like a spa and less like a disability accommodation (shop miss a sells them for a dollar each and they're actually pretty nice!) Not great for hot weather because cold baths are just kind of awful and a hot bath is too hot.
- Sitting on the floor in the shower. It's a little unnerving at first, but as long as you take a quick second to rinse yourself off afterwards, you'll be fine. If you have pain or balance issues it might be difficult to get up.
- A shower seat. A step up from the above option. Shower seats run from pretty cheap and utilitarian to fancy wood sauna seat, so there's really one for everyone. This also provides less support than sitting on the floor, so if you're prone to falling or fatigue it might not be your best option.
- Waterless body wash and shampoo. Yes, that exists! It's how a lot of nursing homes and hospitals do sponge baths nowadays. It's also sometimes used by campers, hikers, and other outdoorsy people.
- Baby wipes. They're soft on skin but cleansing enough to keep you from smelling and get some dirt or food off of you. A great option if you can't afford or don't have access to waterless soap.
- Getting help from a family member, friend, aid, or nurse. Sometimes you just reach a point where the effort required to bathe yourself in any way just isn't worth it. If you have close friends and family you trust to help you get clean, that's cool! If not, there's the option to hire a nurse or aid to come and help you. This might be a little daunting at first, especially if you're a pretty private or self-conscious person, but this is what they do for a living. They see lots of bodies and handle them all with professionalism, yours isn't going to shock them.
probably the worst attitude tumblr unintentionally cultivates is "the world out there is completely dangerous for you and no one can possibly understand you, so you should isolate yourself from it and avoid interacting with it as much as possible"
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The main reason Iām pushing for people to stop using the term āpedophileā and instead use the term āchild sexual abusersā, is because since all discussions of child sexual abuse focus on this idea of an evil person who is just out to get kids because they are sexual attracted to them, it makes it hard for kids who where sexually assaulted by people who donāt fit that description to realize they were sexually assaulted.
It didnāt register for me until recently that my experiences of being forced to strip naked multiple times at the mental hospital to be ācheckedā when I was 14 was sexual assault, because the people who did it were nurses/doctors who clearly didnāt find me sexually attractive but instead used it as a form of humiliation and control towards children they deemed as āunrulyā and āuncooperativeā (ie. children who asked to be treated like people). I thought only people who fit into this idea of a child attracted pedo could be child sexual abusers, so I thought my experience didnāt count.
Stepping away from the idea that there is a pedophile boggieman and instead highlighting that anyone can be a child sexual abuser will help more people realize that their experiences are sexual assault.
my stepfather would openly sexually harass me and my siblings at dinner while also loving the fantasy of killing pedophiles. whether he personally found our abuse sexually gratifying was frankly irrelevant to whether it traumatized us. whether he would be considered a pedophile or not doesn't change that he committed sexual abuse of children
I think in his mind there was a type of horrible person out there who does horrible things, and because he didn't think of himself as fitting that category, his actions could not be judged
[Image description: a screenshot of tags thats read "#and hopefully it will also help adults to realise that doing thay shit to kids is **not okay** #the kids you abuse are not going to be insulated from the trauma just because you personally are not experiencing what you are doing as sexual." /End ID]
strong reminder that everything doesn't "happen for a reason". a lot of the time things happen, and it's not a test or a punishment or predetermined. sometimes you get cancer or lose the ability to eat or can't walk and it doesn't have any greater meaning. i know as a species we love pattern recognition to try and avoid bad things from happening but that doesn't mean whatever explanation people make up to rationalise the fact that anyone can be disabled no matter their status or moral character any more truthful
the psych industry and society as a whole is not normal at all towards people who self-harm. people view it as attention-seeking. mental health professionals view it as justification to send you to a āhigher level of careā aka incarcerate you. it is seen as a bad/negative behavior that needs to be fixed.
in reality, the concept of self-harm is heavily socially constructed and an issue of bodily autonomy. as humans, we seek out physical pain all the time. we eat spicy foods. we get tattoos and piercings. we engage in BDSM. so why do we forbid self-regulation through pain?
when people are told to cover up their scars, when people are kicked out of DBT support groups for self-harming, when people are conditioned to lie about their self-harm to avoid getting sent to the psych ward, you are telling them that their body is not their own.
the last time i cut myself was roughly a year ago. ironically, after adopting a bodily autonomy mindset around self-harm, i stopped having urges to cut nearly as often because iām no longer engaging in a power struggle with my own mind over trying to avoid doing a ābadā behavior. i donāt feel like doing it today, but if i do tomorrow, that is okay. because it is my choice to decide what i do with my own body.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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the psych industry and society as a whole is not normal at all towards people who self-harm. people view it as attention-seeking. mental health professionals view it as justification to send you to a āhigher level of careā aka incarcerate you. it is seen as a bad/negative behavior that needs to be fixed.
in reality, the concept of self-harm is heavily socially constructed and an issue of bodily autonomy. as humans, we seek out physical pain all the time. we eat spicy foods. we get tattoos and piercings. we engage in BDSM. so why do we forbid self-regulation through pain?
when people are told to cover up their scars, when people are kicked out of DBT support groups for self-harming, when people are conditioned to lie about their self-harm to avoid getting sent to the psych ward, you are telling them that their body is not their own.
the last time i cut myself was roughly a year ago. ironically, after adopting a bodily autonomy mindset around self-harm, i stopped having urges to cut nearly as often because iām no longer engaging in a power struggle with my own mind over trying to avoid doing a ābadā behavior. i donāt feel like doing it today, but if i do tomorrow, that is okay. because it is my choice to decide what i do with my own body.
forgive yourself for the strange things you say, do, the lengths you went to just to isolate yourself or do what you thought was "right", the ways you might've even hurt people during episodes.
you may feel embarrassed, ashamed, guilty. forgive yourself. beating yourself up helps nobody. you're gonna learn to live with it eventually, my lovelies. i promise.
