I need to be totally immersed in something else to distract myself

Some distractions are also known as ‘hobbies’ and if you’re able to get totally immersed in something then that can be helpful in distracting you from how you are feeling and any urges to self-harm.

Having a specific place you go to and do this activity that you have decided is safe might also be helpful.

Hobbies people have told us they have used as distractions include:

reading
gaming
watching films or boxsets
doing sports
doing crafts

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Therapeutic Expressive Arts Group (TEA)
Self Injury Through Time Theatre Group (SITT)

An unexpected group of strangers come together one evening; to discuss the one thing they all have in common. Through sharing their own experiences and hearing each other’s, they begin to question the perception they’ve always held about self-injury and ask themselves “Am I Worthy?”
Self Injury Through Time (SITT)
Peer Support Services

Self Injury Support's Peer Services offer non-medical, non-judgmental support from people with their own experience of self-harm.

Casual Sex As Self Harm

For months I would go to the areas of town where lone women were told not to go. I would purposely go to the places and do the things that I knew were putting me at risk. I fooled myself into thinking I was in control, that it was a calculated risk. I wasn't finding people on a dating app, I wasn't going on blind dates or finding people through mutual friends. I was going to the bars that people would advise me to avoid and actively looking for a one night stand.
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Comprehensive listing of local and national self-harm and self-injury support groups and organisations
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Rainbow Journal - Personal Self-Help Diary
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About Us - Our Vision, Our Mission, Our Values

Read more about our vision that anyone who uses self-injury knows they are not alone; that everyone understands that self-injury is a complex and important issue we should all care about and that together we tackle both the causes and stigma of self-injury.
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Reducing self-harm worksheet