Has this worked, for you?

[Mling]

Hi--I don't generally post on this forum, as I don't self-injure, but I was talking to a close friend about her struggles a while ago, and she described something I found troubling.

Her counselor recommended snapping her wrist with a rubber band, instead of cutting--which I understand is a pretty common recommendation. Instead of helping, though, it turned into an even worse compulsion, and ended up actually injuring her--she described it as snapping so much she started flaying her skin off. So she started talking to other people who cut, and most said the same thing--rubber bands were recommended to them by a counselor, but actually turned into a worse problem than cutting (I'd think that, because the effect of a single rubber band snap is less severe than the effect of a single cut, people will tend to do it more often, and so it has the potential to turn into a stronger habit).

Have other people here had similar experiences? Or the opposite (rubber bands were helpful)?

Just wondering if, if this is a widespread experience, people should let counselors know that they should stop recommending it.

 

[Everlasting33]

I have heard of this as well and I tried it years ago when I had a problem with self-harm. It did not work. Actually, this is just a lesser harm against oneself and it usually fails the individual.

I do not recommend it. I stopped cold turkey and it seems that is the most successful way to end it. If you truly seeing cutting for what it is (useless cycle of pain), the desire to stop will win out.

 

[dfly]

Sometimes it has helped me. But if you snap hard enough, you can hurt yourself with it too. I think using a rubber band is better than cutting, but in the end it is still another way of giving yourself pain, so its not a solution.
If she had the experience that she actually hurt herself with it instead of it helping her, I would recommend her to stop using it.

 

[unansweredprayers]

I did the same thing, turning the snapping into an even worse habit, but for me it helped health wise because with snapping my wrists I wasn't losing blood as with cutting I was losing quite a bit, which is Very bad for me as I am anemic and was not taking my iron supplements. I quit cutting cold turkey as well, steelerbred33. That's the only thing that worked. And distracting myself - making sure I was constantly busy until I just didn't think about it anymore.