According to some studies, people who struggle to find their identity, have conflict in their interpersonal relationships, have negative relationships with their parents, or are victims of domestic violence and bullying are more likely to self-harm.
Despite many factors related to self-harm, in-depth research on this mental health issue is still lacking, despite the fact that it is critical for future research. If you are wondering what self-harm is, what its causes and symptoms are, and how to prevent and deal with it, you can dive into our post to find more information. Let’s check it out!
What Is Self-Harm?
According to psychologists, self-harm is when an individual hurts themselves as a way of dealing with their intense emotions, painful memories, and overwhelming experiences and situations. An individual who commits self-harm tends to show others how they really feel or even become a mechanism for moving on with life rather than ending it.
On Kampuspsikologi.com, we found the cycle of self-harm that someone experiences. Here it is!
As you can see from the cycle above, someone can find temporary calm and relief from the intense emotions they feel through self-harm. However, the temporary relief does not solve the real root of the problems being faced. Of course, they often experience feelings of shame, guilt, or sadness, leading them to repeat the cycle of self-harm all over again.
How to Prevent Self-Harm with 4D Techniques?
The 4D techniques stand for Delay, Distract, Divert, and Deep Breathing. With the use of 4D techniques, you can prevent the possibility of further self-harm. Of course, these techniques are very useful in some situations, but not all, and you may find them even more useful when combined with other techniques.
It’s important to note that these 4D techniques are short-term strategies to relieve the intense emotions that you’re feeling or prevent self-harm behavior. However, these are not long-term strategies that can completely eliminate self-harming thoughts and behaviors.
Here are the 4D techniques that we discovered from kampuspsikologi.com:
1) Delay
You must wait 10 minutes if you are in a situation where you are prone to self-harm. If it works, you need to try waiting 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, or even a day. This technique will give you time to find other ways to deal with and manage the intense emotions you are feeling at the time.
2) Distract
When you have a strong desire to self-harm or are doing it, you can use the distraction technique. This technique can be a beneficial way to dive into emotions and overcome the urge to hurt yourself at the same time.
Here are some examples of distractions you can try:
- Try to write down what you think and feel on paper. Then, crumple the paper, shred it, and throw it away as a way to release and let go of these thoughts.
- To relieve stress, play with playdough and stretch or squeeze it.
- Walk outside to get away from things that can provoke you. Being in public will give you space and time to reduce the intense emotions that lead you to self-harm.
- Call your friends and speak with them. The topic can vary; it’s not always about self-harm.
- Express yourself through art, whether by painting or coloring. The color you select at that time can represent the emotion you’re feeling.
- Play with your lovely pets.
- Listen to your favorite music loudly or play an instrument.
- Try to focus on one thing around you—something simple. Then, look at it for a long time and see if it can distract you from your negative thoughts at that time.
3) Divert
The divert technique allows you to do an action similar to self-harm, but it will not cause you harm. Things you can do are:
- Hold an ice cube.
- Take a cold or hot shower.
- Hit the bed or pillows.
- Eat something with a strong taste, e.g., chili.
- Use a red pen to draw on areas of skin that usually hurt.
- Put the rubber on your wrist and snap it over your hand if necessary.
4) Deep Breathing
You can try to count to five while exhaling slowly. Make sure to repeat it until your mind relaxes. You can also try other relaxation methods, such as yoga and meditation.
How to Deal with Self-Harm?
According to some sources, people who frequently self-harm can try to deal with it. Never give up; instead, you can do the following actions:
1) Learn A-Z about self-harm
The more you learn about self-harm behavior, the more informed you will be when making self-harm decisions. You will further understand more and more about what triggers you to self-harm, the reason why you self-harm as a way to relieve your emotions, or the root problem behind the self-harm you are doing.
2) Write down what happened before and after you self-harmed.
If you do this, it can really help you to:
- Recognize triggers. It is well understood that triggers are the factors that contribute to the desire to harm oneself. It includes but is not limited to anniversaries, birthdays, physical sensations, and certain thoughts or feelings.
- Recognize urges. In this case, you can ask yourself, “What was the urge you felt before self-harm?” Well, the urge may appear right before self-harm, such as:
- specific thoughts, like “I need to feel better now.”
- Strong emotions such as despair, sadness, or anger.
- Physical sensations—shortness of breath, a pounding heart.
- Numbness results from disconnection with oneself, or from feeling outside one’s own body.
3) Talk to someone you trust.
Telling someone closest to you about your problems may not completely solve them, but at least you will not feel alone in going through them. You can try to talk to someone who will support you, won’t judge you, and understands your condition. Of course, having a positive support system during a crisis situation can really help your healing process.
4) Go to a psychologist
As we’ve mentioned, self-harm behavior is commonly a way to resolve intense emotions you’re feeling. However, it is limited to short-term strategy.It means that there will be a bigger problem behind self-harm behavior. Of course, it needs prevention to completely stop the self-harming behavior.
Never hesitate to go to a psychologist. Visiting a psychologist can help you find a solution to your problem. You and a psychologist will jointly figure out the root of your problem that causes you to self-harm. You can work together with a psychologist to find a solution to your problem.
If you go to a psychologist, you not only hope that you can find a great method to stop self-harming behavior, but also that the root of your problems that often trigger self-harm can also be found.
So, there you have it: the definition of self-harm, techniques for preventing it, and ways to deal with it. We hope our post can help you overcome your self-harm behavior. Good Luck!!!
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
