Does anyone have any advice on reducing anxiety after cutting?
 

Hi,
I've been cutting myself on and off for nearly 4 years. Well I have a lot of anxiety that comes with it. So much anxiety that I start shaking, pacing the room, can't sleep, sometimes I'll start crying, and it takes me 3-5 hours to finally calm down.

I do have a HUGE fear of infections, and I worry constantly that my cut(s) are going to become infected. I worry about getting Tetanus mostly. I think my fear of infections is whats causing my anxiety when I cut.

I was wondering if anyone here had advice on reducing the anxiety? Also, does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks

The only thing I can really think of to suggest is just carlming methods, such as deep breathing, soothing music, taking to poeple, drawing, going for a walk, ect. Another thing that may help is counseling (if you haven't alreay got it) to help you deal with si and anxiety.

I have a very similar thing - last year, a cut of mine got infected, and I ended up with a staph infection. I'd never had an infection like that before, and it freaked me out so badly that, now, I'm very paranoid about it. Basically, how I solve this is just being really meticulous when it comes to my cutting. As in, I wash my tools beforehand with antibacterial soap, THEN soak them in isopropyl alcohol, and after SI-ing I'll use isopropyl alcohol, then wash it, then alcohol again, and then immediately neosporin and gauze even if it's not bleeding badly enough to warrant that. It's probably total overkill, but it makes me feel better just to be overprotected.

this is probably going to sound really blunt.... but if its SI that causes the anxiety to get that high, not hurting yourself in the first place would probably solve the problem for the most part.

when you get that anxious and panicky, it helps if you can remind yourself that it won't last forever, and just let the feeling run its course, which usually doens't take too long, as well as using other things to keep you calm until it dissipates