Listening to podcasts is a great way to distract yourself and escape. Depending on what you’re interested in you can learn new things, or feel like you’re listening to a conversation with friends. The can be really comforting, and a great alternative if music isn’t right for you at the moment. They’re also free and […]
Listening to podcasts is a great way to distract yourself and escape. Depending on what you’re interested in you can learn new things, or feel like you’re listening to a conversation with friends. The can be really comforting, and a great alternative if music isn’t right for you at the moment. They’re also free and you can access them on your phone wherever, whenever!
There’a lot’s of great mental health ones out there. Just have a quick search on a podcast platform like Spotify or Apple music. Or simply look up any topic that interests you and there’s more than likely going to be some episodes about it. Seriously, there’s everything from Drag Race to Scottish history! Our fave is The Heavy Mental Podcast – a good place to start!
Alternatively try watching a Ted Talk on YouTube for a little bit of inspiration and to increase your knowledge and awareness of the world.
This one might help as a short term distraction, and something you could use while you’re in school. Scribble on a page until it’s completely covered. It might help you to vent some feelings of anger. And by the time the page is totally blacked out you might find the urge to self-harm has passed.
Expressing your anger, pain, frustration or however you feel is really important. Sometimes it can feel like you’re holding everything in. So a good way to let it out is to scream into a pillow. Ok, this won’t necessarily solve your problems, but it might help you feel a bit lighter afterwards. And it means you won’t be screaming so everyone else in your house/street (depending how loud you are..!) hears it.
It could be that drawing is a good way to express how you’re feeling. You could draw what your thoughts look like, or how you see yourself and the world around you.
Or it might just be a nice distraction to keep your hands and mind busy for a bit! It doesn’t matter what it looks like; it could be just doodles on a paper, or it could be your own comic book! What’s important is that you do it for you. You can even find some cool tutorials on YouTube or even TikTok for how to draw different stuff.
Music’s great isn’t it? Whether you’re into Bach or Blink-182, listening to music can have a huge impact on your emotions. Sometimes just knowing that someone else has been through the same thing as you, and has put it into song, is really comforting.
A pro tip here: it’s tempting to listen to angry or sad music when you feel that way. Start off listening to those vibes for sure. But then try to move towards something that’s angry, but uplifting, and ultimately get to music that’s gonna put you in a happy mood.
This is a suggestion that’s come from a few of our followers! Baking can be a really tasty way of distracting yourself. Taking the time to weigh out the ingredients and following the recipe is a good way to focus your mind on something different. And if you mix it all up by hand, that’s a good way to keep your hands busy (and wear you out! Have you tried mixing batter by hand? Phew!)
And there’s something really satisfying about being able to eat and enjoy the treats you make. You could even share them with a pal to help brighten their day too!
Baking doesn’t have to be just sweet treats too. Have a search for some recipes for things like protein balls to give your body a healthy boost when you enjoy them!
So, yes, we’ve got this separate to ‘learn to play an instrument’. But playing the drums is kinda how the HATW story started, so it only seems fair we give it it’s own page.
Drumming is great because you can take out your anger or frustration on a drum kit instead of yourself. You can wear yourself out by playing as hard, loud, and fast as you can (sorry neighbours). Plus if you’re playing a full kit, you need to concentrate on doing 4 different things with each of your limbs, rather than thinking about your problems. So it can help clear your head too!
Watch Si’s story below:
We even made our own drum sticks to help get you started.
Having physical contact with someone can really boost your endorphins and provide comfort, support and express affection. Something as simple as hugging a friend or loved one, or holding someone’s hand can make you feel appreciated and valued. It can also help you express gratitude and warmth without having to talk or say what’s going on with you.
Your family or housemates will appreciate this one…! Tidying everything up can leave you with a really satisfied feeling afterwards. The process of tidying up can be a distraction from the urge to self-harm (if there’s loads to clean up then it can be a big distraction). By having your surroundings all neat and organised, you might find your thoughts become more organised, and easier to control.
Heads Above The Waves uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
3rd Party Cookies
Heads Above The Waves uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages. We also use Meta pixel for a number of purposes, including understanding user behaviour and retargeting.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
