| Hairdye As Substitutes |

✮ if you have box dyed black hair and don't want to damage your hair by bleaching it use "color oops color remover" it has no chemicals and i've used it 3 times in one night, it has a bad smell but wears off after awhile, better than frying your hair to get it blonde.

✮ yes $5 hairdye from the dollar store is bad for your hair but it's always nice to have around if you don't care about your hair that much, i always have atleast 5 different color options in my bathroom so if i feel like i want to relapse i can distract myself by dying my hair and not myself, if you're rich or have enough money get good hairdye and keep it around, if you have a hairdye addiction and use it as a distraction this is a nice tip.

| Journaling |

✮ alot of times journaling can be very mind-soothing unlike asmr, walking, therapy, ect,,, some people prefer to journal and the best part about it is no one else will see it so you can make it your own, in mine i have old love letter, vent pages, shrines, daily updates, affirmation pages, old movie tickets, and on from there.

✮ tips won't be the same for everyone as everyones mind works differently, but it's just something that distracts me and keeps me in control of my emotions and mindset, what i did at first was look up cute journaling on pinterest and I have some ideas here.

| Self Care |

✮ self care has always helped me atleast have a small reason to get up in the morning and take care of myself, some people like it others don't, you don't have to do all acne care, self care can be eating your favorite foods, styling your hair, taking a bubble bath without any social media, leaving social media, sleeping, taking care of your piercings, tattoos, old scars, new scars, brushing your hair, painting your nails, or just simpily brushing your teeth, but everyone has different energy to do different things these are just some ideas to help you get the idea.

✮ self care is a way to remind yourself that deep down you deserve to be taken care of, rather you have a spiritual meaning behind it or you just want it to be known you deserve to be taken care of nicely, it is a amazing thing to have as a coping mechanism, for anyone.

| Medication |

✮ yes a bunch of people don't like taking meds because they think it takes away their "spark" and I do agree, I am anti-meds because I have some worries but that is ME and MY opinion, what doesn't work for me could easily work on others, sometimes taking mood stabilizers or antidepressants can be very helpful, it is different for everyone which is why you should at LEAST try the meds before saying you're against it, I had to try it before saying it wasn't for me, you should try too.

✮ there is thousands of different meds of different kinds that could be for you, they take weeks to months to kick in and for some people they work as for others, not so well.

| Gaming |

✮ playing games that are not competitive usually is good for helping you calm down here are some I recommend

✮ unpacking, animal crossing, stardew valley, untitled goose game, cattails, coffee talk, abzu, ect; I find any "cozy game" good for anxiety, it's amazing and so comforting.

| I Am Sober |

✮ people always say having this app is cringe but to be fairly honest it helped me through alot, it has a bunch of options and you can keep track of how long you have been clean for no matter if it's a week or a year it is still a huge accomplishment and the app reminds you of it.

| Stuffed Animals |

✮ alot of times stuffed animals can help when you're going through it, some stuffed animals may have meaning behind them others you may just have bought to get, but meaning or not holding them can help you feel so much more comforted when you're alone or touch starved.

✮ I do recommend having atleast two stuffed animals if you're touch starved or just like weight.

| Small Spaces |

✮ me perosnally, i'm clausterphobic, BUT growing up when I was having panic attacks I would make forts, simple forts with kitchen chairs or just sheets around my matress it would comfort me so much.

✮ i've seen alot of cptsd survivors who made forts out of big like dog cages and they deck it out, i've thought about making one but i don't want to waste money on something i'm not sure on if i'll like, if you have the money or just the resources i say give it a try.

| Clothing |

✮ for me I have a hoodie that comforts me, different people can have different forms of comfort items depending on them and I have several, weighted and oversized clothes that comfort you when you're in a deppresive episode will always be helpful.

| Sensory Toys |

✮ amazon has sensory toys in bulk for like $15 for 40 sensory toys, they're good quality usually and easy to take with you everywhere, i would give them a try, some toys are better than others it depends on you and what you like to use.

| Substitutes |

✮ put a rubberband around your wrist/thigh and flick it against your skin, this is still hurting you but it hurts you less than cutting.

✮ grab red water flovoring and ice, put the flavoring onto whatever part of your body you would relapse on then put the ice over it, the ice created a small sensation of a blade.

✮ draw on your body with red marker and use water flovoring if you like seeing it drip, it will trick your mind.

✮ wrap your arm like you do when you s/h so it tricks your mind and you have the place you would cut on covered.

✮ take a cold bath or put ice in a bowl and put your face in it for a second, it will distract your mind from wanting to relapse.

✮ use fidget toys.

| Delaying Tactics |

✮ set a timer for 120 seconds, collect your thoughts and think if you really want to relapse.

✮ count to 100 and so on.

✮ pace back and forth until your mind is cleared.

✮ deep clean your room.

✮ plan your next brithday party to the T.

| Public Urges |

✮ use the 5 sense tactic, smell, taste, sight, touch, hear; what do you smell, taste, see, what can you feel, what do you hear.

✮ rub your wrist, not too hard just enough to fidget.

✮ scream as loud as possible in your mind while closing your eyes, imagine you're in the woods.

✮ use a fidget toy.

✮ look at strangers and guess things about them and their life, think positively.

✮ focus on one body part at a time, become self aware of yourself and your existance.

| Possible Triggers |

✮ Avoid mirrors.

✮ weighting yourself multiple times a week/month.

✮ being around large ammounts of food.

✮ big resturants with family/friends.

✮ body pictures of other people on social media.

✮ looking at old pictures of yourself.

| Controlling Eating |

✮ don't eat too less or too much, get a controlled portion of food but if you want more NEVER deny it to yourself, if you have a binge ed draw a healthy line for yourself.

✮ set a time to eat if you eat too less, snacks are healthy no matter what type of ed you have.

✮ if you have trouble keeping the food down always go to light foods; jello, pudding, crackers, sandwiches, eggs, fruits, yogurt with granola.

✮ never think "am I hungry or am I bored" it is a bad mindset especially in hard recovery.

| Helping Yourself |

✮ in todays world there isn't much visible help for bpd/bipolar people, but sometimes taking months to months to learn about your disorder, learning the signs, learning self control, and on can REALLY help you in the long run, never reject meds, they will take awhile to work and find the right ones for you but mood stabilizers are really helpful, don't think you're less you for taking meds, and self care if really important for bpd/bipolar people, even a simple task of cutting/painting your nails or brushing your hair/teeth can make you feel so much better.

| Snapping Out Of It |

✮ put your face in a bowl of cold water for as long as you can, the cold water will help distract you.

✮ look at yourself in the mirror, smile, no matter how much you hurt deep down there's a piece of you fighting to keep you alive, smile at them.

✮ learn to regulate your emotions, yes while having bpd or bipolar it is very easier said than done but if you take time, and try to help yourself and learn to notice when you're breaking, it will help you so much more in the long run, if you don't want to help yourself no one else can help you.

✮ remember bpd is a PART of you , not YOU.

✮ learn to reconize a episode/euphoria, there are several resources that can help you understand, sometimes it takes you needing to record yourself to understand what it looks like.

✮ talk to someone, find someone who you're close to and trust, let them understand what your episodes/euphoria looks like, they can sometimes help you understand and give you a reality check kindly.

| Comfort Doll |

✮ rather you had a abortion, stillborn, you can't have kids,or a miscarriage the one thing I can recommend to any of you is a realistic silicone baby that's weighted, they're so comforting and it gives you the sensation of a baby, for some it may be too much to handle but others may really like the weight of a baby, it's anxiety relieving too, just a small tip.

| Scared Of Being Found |

✮ I understand the feeling of being scared you're going to be found again so here are some ways i've stayed hidden while still being active on social media.

✮ lets start with usernames, the username I had then is completely different, even if you just change a few letters in your username it still can be very helpful so they won't be able to track you from your username.

✮ now passwords, I change my passwords and check login logs every start of the month just to make sure nobody else is logging into my stuff because even if your friend has it or it's saved into yours and your friends chat, anybody can see it, never give your friend your login and never save any personal information in chat, that's a one way ticket to getting stalked severely.

✮ now looks, after eerything went down I changed my hair color, I did piercings, Tattoos, and body and facial features changed a bunch, but everything I went through was a bit more severe than just some grooming, so you don't have to worry too much on looks puberty will take care of that in time, it's just for people who are paranoid or went through what I did.

✮ and on the topic of looks, you are less to be trafficked if you are tall or have dyed hair, piercings, or tattoos, which is what left me to doing what I did.

✮ I didn't change my name after everything, I just went by Arsonic for awhile because I was paranoid, now that I feel more safe I go by my real name, it was very helpful at the start of recovery.

✮ now, let's talk showing your face on social media, what I did was the first year and a half I didn't show my face at all except to people I knew very very very well, Instagram never got any pictures and on from there, it's safer if you don't show your face for awhile if your situation got severe.

✮ finally, let's talk on sharing your location, rather you went through a abuse situation, grooming, human trafficking, or you're just chilling you should NEVER have your location on, especially if you're on snap, even if you're on ghostmode it's very easy to hack into that and very easy to find and stalk you just from that ONE app.

| Trauma Kinks |

✮ I want it to be known that trauma kinks are completely normal, especially ddlg and cnc after grooming situations, no they can not be helped but yes you should STILL be careful with them no matter what, just like any normal kink you could have if the wrong person figures that out they can manipulate you into anything in the name of BDSM, so please stay safe and do your research.

| Cloth |

✮ certain cloth will cause you to stim and overstimulate and others will make you understimulated, for me silk makes me overstimulated and stim, i recommend touching different cloth types until you find one that comforts you and only you, sometimes cloth like sensory cubes can help when you're understimulated.

| Weighted Stuffies |

✮ some people like weight others don't, me personally I when i'm upset or understimulated, I have a weighted stuffed animal I lay on me, it helps alot more than I thought it would, just look up weighted stuffed animals on amazon and make sure to check the reviews.

| Headphones |

✮ if you get overstimulated by sounds alot I would get really loud headphones or noise cancelling headphones, again look them up on amazon, I hate the sound of metal scrapping against each other so when we're in public eating I have noise cancelling headphones I can also use as normal headphones and it's very helpful to keep me not over or understimulated.

| Sight |

✮ I can't handle natural light or like, school lights so when I was still in school it was on my 504 plan to let me wear sunglasses in class so they lights didn't make me not be able to focus, it's weird but any needs you need to help you focus I recommend getting them put on your 504 plan no matter how "dumb" you think it is, whatever helps you focus more you need to have on the 504 plan, that's what it is there for.