"Agreements" seems to help me. or example, years ago when i had to move in w/my mom after a meth problem & ppl leaving me nowhere to go after my lease expired, my mom took me to doc for depression. doc saw my scars and she looked at allll my junior high & high school history. I said I didn't want to go back on meds. She said ok, but if you hurt yourself again make an appt and that may be what we want to do for you. And then i didn't cut for about a year and a half after that, maybe more? and i had moved back out by then. also this summer my aunt, my family knowing my mental history... misread a track mark scar for cutting, so i said that's what it was when she pulled me aside (boyf warned me she was worried about me cutting) and why not? i kind of had been doing it more frequently around that time, or a bit before that time (also had long years span of not doing it until first fight w/current boyf, of course in the time i wasn't cutting i had various eating disorder issues for most of it...) so she was upset and made an agreement w/me for me not to cut anymore, and think i have only twice since that talk around august or sept- tho have burned prob 5 times as in my mind it wasn't in the agreement, oh excuses! the last time was a rather messy affair... but anyhow - other people trying to control me - like a friend going thru my purse and taking away razors, or in high school my mom made me wear short sleeves, as if that's the only place i did it - these make it worse. boyfriend seeing them or wanting to if i mention i've done it is just embarassing, but for some reasons the informal verbal contracts, when i have one, pop up in my head when i want to... it's sometimes hard to otherwise get rid of anger and frustration... but my boyf does drink a couple of beers most days and if we save the bottles, i throw and smash them against each other in the trashcan - that helps vent those types of emotions that can usually only be calmed through self mutilation. now if i could just find a way to get rid of the self-medication brought on by anxiety, worry, lack of life satisfaction, and so on - i'd be something like a real human, long as i didn't get obsessed with my weight again - which i may have to watch for as that time comes, considering i'm the only most-of-life-except-when-extreme-dieting overweight person in my whole family( i was adopted, small bone structure, mom thought i was too thin and overfed me & i didn't burn it off like my siblings! )and most of my friends - tho just living w/one friend now and my boyfriend's weight prob is from inactivity due to perm disability due to car accident - and he still eats like he did whenever he was younger and active - lots! & the drug i'm using has slowed down body functions so much i've put on more weight - while boyf REFUSES to "go hungry" or let me...
but anyhow maybe that could be helpful for someone - agreements with people & having someone to call, plus another way to "get out" the emotion that you "treat" with self mutilation. it can be hard to find one as sometimes it seems like it's the ONLY thing that gets rid of it correctly, but if you can involve yourself FULLY in this other activity it can work! and maybe if that's not enough, turning the water on full-heat and putting your arm under it for 5 secs can also help, and doesn't seem damaging.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")