Requirements

You’ll need some rubber bands or hairbands that fit comfortably around your wrist or ankle.

We know it can be tempting to wear bands which are tight and leave a mark – but please don’t. This can reduce the effectiveness of the strategy over time.

This technique works immediately but its effects are short lasting.

How to

• Simply wear a rubber band or hairband and every time you are distracted by thoughts or ‘urges’ of wanting to self-harm, just ping the band on yourself.
• This will obviously sting and hurt – and that’s the point.
• Instead of actively harming yourself, you are causing pain in a different, more safe way.
• Continue to ping yourself until you find another distraction, the distressing moment has passed or you can have a face-to-face conversation with someone.

Additional

We recommend performing this technique discreetly if in public because there is nothing worse than someone asking you, “what are you doing?”

We also suggest you only perform this technique in short, sharp bursts. This keeps the shock-factor of the sting without leaving a permanent mark.