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Risk Reduction
You can actually self-harm without physically injuring yourself.
For example, many people swear by biting into something strongly flavoured especially hot chillli peppers or ginger
root, rubbing liniment under your nose etc. However, here are a few things to keep in mind should
you decide that you do need to hurt yourself:
- First Aid courses cannot
be recommended too highly. Not only for your own benefit, but also for others.
- If you do cut yourself,
then please remember to NEVER share any cutting implement with anyone.
- It is a fact that we can
get the same diseases (Hepatitis, AIDS, etc) that drug addicts can get from sharing used needles.
- Keep first aid supplies
on hand and know what to do in the case of emergencies.
- Only do the absolute
minimum required to meet your immediate needs and ease immediate distress.
- Set limits to your self-injury
activity. Decide exactly how much you are going to allow yourself to do….
By
setting your own boundaries you limit the possibility of fatal accident. The following will allow you some control over SI,
and not allow SI to control you.
- Always make sure that whatever you use is clean, and as much as possible sterile.
- Decide
beforehand exactly how far your self-injury will go. How severe it will be, and what form will it will take.
- Decide
exactly how long you will allow yourself to injure yourself
- Decide
how many cuts, scratches, burns, bruises, tablets or even broken bones to administer to yourself and stick to that number
and time-scale.
- If cutting. Decide how many cuts and how deep to cut. Please try to remember to keep all cuts as shallow as possible
please.
- Before
commencing, please ensure that everything you will need to treat your wounds is suited for that purpose and that you are familiar
with how to use it.
If you keep within
the boundaries that you yourself have set, then you are still in control Always clean, treat and dress wounds when you’ve finished.
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