Methods of distraction

Hi everyone!
As I told you in my latest post, I have tried to stop self-harming since I was 13. It's never easy to overcome any addiction. But there are countless ways to regain a bit of control, when the urge to cut or in some other way hurt yourself jumps on you from behind. But no method works for everyone. Every individual has his or her ways of coping. So today I'm going to list a few of the methods that have helped me on my journey.

1:Clutching an icecube in your fist until it melts. Everytime I cut, a bit of all the hurt inside me got physical. I could feel the pain, so the feeling of unreality abated for a while. So everytime I tried to stop, this was one of the first things I did. This way, I got the pain and adrenaline I needed without giving myself new scars.
2: Writing down your feelings and then setting the paper on fire. Once, when I was staying the night at my grandmother's house, I woke terrified from a nightmare. Gran told me to draw the part of the nightmare that had woken me up. After that, she picked me up and we went outside. She took the paper and burnt it up, so that the nightmare would vanish. So when my abstinence gets too strong I do the same, except that I write, instead of drawing. It's the same principal.
3: Setting your timer ten minutes at a time. There is a saying that goes: "Slowly, slowly, catches the monkey!" That kind of sums up this method. When you feel you need to hurt yourself, set the timer on your phone or a foodtimer at ten minutes and try to breathe evenly. When the ten minutes are done, set it for ten more minutes. Before you know it, you can see clearly again.
4: Calling a friend. Ok, time for a real classic. Calling someone close to you can be one of the best ways to avoid SI. Whether you tell them about your urge or not, you will still have a space of time where you mind doesn't keep clawing at you.

One of the most important things to remember, is that even though you don't feel strong or confident, you ARE! You're working on breaking free of an extremly difficult addiction. And that takes a great deal of strength, just to try. You won't manage resisting everytime, you will fall. But this is a long journey and with each new attempt, you get closer to your goal!