This may sound disgusting but I pick at my psoriasis and exzema till its raw and bleeding and then have a shower. It kinda makes it sting more. Im sick! I wrist bang, and run into walls too.. Its good to know that there are other people here with the same problem so Im not alone... Im recovering at the minute but I still pick aat my skin whenever I get anxious..
*Squuuishes everybody*
I have bad eczema too, and I pick and scratch it constantly till I'm in a right state. Especially when I'm stressed, it's an awful thing to have and it's really difficult to stop, it seems habitual. So I kinda understand! (Hugs) The kids at the school I'm on placement at were taking it in turns to touch my scary troll hands today.
"I want to be magic. I want to touch the heart of the world and make it smile. I want to be a friend of elves and live in a tree. Or under a hill. I want to marry a moonbeam and hear the stars sing. I don’t want to pretend at magic anymore. I want to be magic."
I cut and burn, but I also do a lot of strange ones. I suffocate myself a lot, hit things, and scratch my arms or legs. I also pick at my lips and nails and skin. I didn't even relate this to sh until recently. Ive picked my lips to the point of bleeding ever since I was a baby. Literally. And ive always picked my nails, but I make them painfully low. And I pick at the skin around my nails till it hurts. If I'm in public ill pinch myself hard or just squeeze my arm or something really hard. I also pluck my eyelashes and legs (weird) sometimes when I'm bored... I don't really know why. Ive also got some food problems. I'm a lot more messed up than I realized.
The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. - 11th Doctor
One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever comes to sit by it. Passersby see only a whisp of smoke rising from the chimney and continue on their way. (Vincent van Gogh)
I have bad eczema too, and I pick and scratch it constantly till I'm in a right state. Especially when I'm stressed, it's an awful thing to have and it's really difficult to stop, it seems habitual. So I kinda understand! (Hugs) The kids at the school I'm on placement at were taking it in turns to touch my scary troll hands today.
I also have Ecxema and when I get rashing during summer (due to heat, which is when its at it's worst) I wil scratch and scratch so much skin comes off and has to scab over to heal, then I tend to interfer with healing process and pick these scabs too. I have many little (faded now) scars from doing this since I was really little, never really noticed how long I have really been self harming for, I only just recently started cutting at the end of last year, but come to think of it before that for about a year I used to obsessivly scratch even if there wasn't bad eczema rashes, I also went through a stage where I pulled out eyelashed, didn't even realise till I was reading about other people doing it that I remembered I did too. I have started hitting alot too, kind of to stop cutting, cause that way (to me) I see it as one step better in my own recovery... I also don't eat a lot because I'm concerned about my weight but also for the hunger pains too... it's kind of weird... I think I never realised how much I really SH'ed till reading all of this, I knew there were other forms but I thought I only was cutting and hitting as forms of self harm. thank you for creating this post it has helped me realise how much I SH and shows that people that used these other forms aren't alone. Well done. (sorry for the long reply and ranting. thanks for reading..)
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass
It's learning to dance in the rain
RIP - Zuri ~Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'
I'm sorry that you suffer from it too, heat is the worst! I never thought of it as SH either till someone pointed it out. It doesn't feel like it does it? But I guess it is sometimes. I feel so disgusting and ashamed when I'm scratching or picking. x
"I want to be magic. I want to touch the heart of the world and make it smile. I want to be a friend of elves and live in a tree. Or under a hill. I want to marry a moonbeam and hear the stars sing. I don’t want to pretend at magic anymore. I want to be magic."
I do stuff like this too. I cut, but I have also punched and bitten myself, and I regularly pick at my skin on my face, my lips, my nails, any wounds or scabs I have, I tweeze hairs excessively...it's partly compulsive maybe but definitely also self harm, I can't stop and obviously when it's on my face it makes me look even uglier than I already feel I am, so it has a massive impact on my life :(
I am glad to see this thread is still getting used. A lot of people just don't know how many forms of SI/SH there really are. It's not just cutting and/or burning. The number of ways to SI/SH is only limited by a person's imagination in my opinion. It's all the intention behind why the person is doing what they are doing....
We're all in the same game;
Just different levels.
Dealing with the same hell;
Just different demons.
I scratch my skin to the point of almost bleeding, and pick at scabs so they never heal and sometimes bleed again... and I burn occasionally when I'm in a really bad place. I rationalize all this with "well at least it's not cutting. It's not so bad. My therapist said said no cutting..." when we made the contact but I know in my heart he means no self injury. He doesn't know I do the other things though...
We're all in the same game;
Just different levels.
Dealing with the same hell;
Just different demons.
i alwasy felt like i wasnt meant here as i didnt SH but as i think about it i do.
until yesterday i had never cut myself but all got too much and i needed something new to try to cope. i restrict my food and scratch alot usually. my biggest problem recently tho is restricting my sleep which only makes things worse the next day. i have been on a downwards spiral recently and have ended up cutting and now its all im thinking about while not sleeping.
I scratch my skin to the point of almost bleeding, and pick at scabs so they never heal and sometimes bleed again... and I burn occasionally when I'm in a really bad place. I rationalize all this with "well at least it's not cutting. It's not so bad. My therapist said said no cutting..." when we made the contact but I know in my heart he means no self injury. He doesn't know I do the other things though...
Yeah, similar situation here. I'm a month free (yay, me! :) ), but I would scratch my arms a lot. I was telling myself the same thing "it's not cutting, so it's not so bad," but it is SI, same as everything else. And like everyone is saying, just because the action doesn't seem so serious, the feelings behind it are exactly the same, and it can get worse.
I also obsessively pick at my scabs. They've lasted for some time before, but once people start noticing, like my mom saying "oh, do you think should put cream on that?" then I usually try to stop for a while and let it heal.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one like this. I keep feeling out of place here sometimes, because it sometimes feels like there are people here who have it worse and I shouldn't be this way and don't belong and yeah...
Anyway, I'm thinking of all you lovely people and sending happy thoughts your way! :)
I started out with hitting myself, hair pulling, digging nails in hard, that sort of thing, before I started cutting. I still do them as well, especially the hair pulling and nail digging. I have a couple of times taken a little too much of over the counter pills, just to make things a little unpleasant for myself but with no intent to cause permanent damage. I guess I'm in a bit of an experimental stage at the moment.
I know that this thread is really old but I wanted to bring it back again because I couldn't find a newer one like this.
Also, reading all those honest replies made me feel a bit less alone I guess. So I thought it could help someone else as well.
For me it started with hitting/scratching myself and snapping rubber bands. I couldn't take my SI seriously back then because I knew that some people tend to recommend rubber bands as a "save" alternative to cutting - which is absolutely not true. I get mad every time when I read this somewhere on a "what to do instead"-list.
Other things I do/did are pinching, sometimes starving just to feel the hunger and making myself gag without actually throwing up.
My main thing is bruising by punching and biting though. This got a bit out of control recently.
The reason why I decided to write this here instead of a new thread is that I've been looking for threads about those things to feel a bit more understood than before. I have to admit that society is slowly starting to realize that SI is more than "just" cutting but as someone who's dealing with bruising I still feel as if people wouldn't take me seriously if I told them.
This is just my personal point of view and I'm sure that I'm not the only one here who has these thoughts. It's way too easy to think "This doesn't leave any scars so it's not real SI.", "This isn't bad enough to ask for help." or "I don't deserve to be part of a SI community."
Furthermore, I've never met anyone "like me" before which makes it even harder for me to believe that this "deserves" to be called self harm. Maybe all the others simply feel the same way and are scared of telling people because it doesn't seem that "serious" to them.
I totally agree with this post from 2008.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snow White.
I say this, because in the past I've noticed that people don't get the supportthey need. So far the thread has been fine but with 'other forms of self harm' it can have the chance to turn into something that is tipsharing by simply stating how you hurt yourself, instead of getting support or advice regarding why you're doing these things to yourself.
I was thinking it would be better to start individual threads instead of just about what you do to hurt yourself, but instead say you have a bad day and you feel like pulling hair / hitting things /etc and making an individual thread and getting support that way.
Of course this is completely true but for me personally it was important to see that there are other people with similar issues to show myself that I have the right to ask for help even if I don't use the "classical" forms of SI. I think the first step in recovery is realizing that you have a problem that needs to be sorted out.
By bringing this thread back to life I just want to show everyone who's unsure about whether you should tell someone or not - no matter what you're dealing with - that your problems are worth it to be taken seriously! You are not alone. Let's break the silence!
I'm sorry that I wrote so much and I want to thank everyone who took the time to read all of it. Hopefully someone found this helpful.
Feel free to send me a PM if you need someone to talk. :)
The following content has been hidden - Reason : PLEASE REMEMBER THIS RULE BEFORE REPLYING TO THIS THREAD!
Quote:
Please do not share any information on methods to self-harm or any tips, including the best ways/places to self-harm. Discussion of techniques that people have not yet heard of encourages them to then go and try them and must be avoided at all times. Information on scar reduction and preventing / reducing the risk of infection, however, are very much allowed and encouraged.
For example : "I find it works best when I do ...", "If you cut yourself on your XXX then even your doctor wouldnt see it" , “If I took X amount of pills – would it kill me?”.
If it's not been mentioned in the replies, then I tend to bite myself if I get desperate. Definitely a form of self harm.
I kind of do the same, like i bite my fingers and skin until it's raw.
I feel like that's not important enough or something for me to be here. I guess i feel under-appreciated with everything.
I used to do a lot to self-harm. Man, it went to my early childhood.
Last edited by CharlieTurtles : 30-05-2014 at 10:53 PM.
Reason: Correcting a word
“In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important” “I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”
“You don’t just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand! You say no! You have the guts to do what’s right, even when everyone else just runs away.” I'll wait for you, Doctor
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I cut and burn, but I also do a lot of strange ones. I suffocate myself a lot, hit things, and scratch my arms or legs. I also pick at my lips and nails and skin. I didn't even relate this to sh until recently. Ive picked my lips to the point of bleeding ever since I was a baby. Literally. And ive always picked my nails, but I make them painfully low.
Oh my word me too. I bite my lips, Bite my fingers, My nails, wow. AND I LOVE DOCTOR WHO.
“In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important” “I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”
“You don’t just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand! You say no! You have the guts to do what’s right, even when everyone else just runs away.” I'll wait for you, Doctor
(\__/)This Is Bunny. Copy Bunny into your signature
(O.o )to help him on his way to world domination.
(> < )
