What is an Urge?
Whether you suffer from depression, self harm, an eating disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder or anything similar, the word “urge” is often used to describe the over powering feelings to hurt yourself, others or to do something against your will. They can often be very difficult to control and may causes extreme discomfort to the person suffering from them. More often than not, they can consume the sufferer so they fail to see or think about anything other than the urge itself. Each person acts and thinks differently when experiencing an urge, as they can come in different forms depending on what it means to that person and what triggered it to happen.
Why is it important to beat them?
As with any addiction or habit, the road to recovery starts with the first "No." Standing up to your urge and making the choice to resist can be both difficult and rewarding. Every urge will pass, given time - but only if you choose not to act on it. Whenever you give in to the temptation, you only feed that next urge and make the next opportunity to resist even harder. While it may seem a bit pointless sometimes ("What's this one cut gonna hurt?"), it truly is worthwhile. Each time you resist an urge, you are empowering yourself and, little by little, working towards your goal. You deserve to be free from your struggle.
How can this be done?
There are many techniques to overcoming urges, as they often vary from person to person. However, there are two key ways to survive through urges. These are:
Intervention
Why let the urge build up to something you can no longer control? With intervention, you can distract yourself whilst the urge is small and easier to control. This way you have more of a chance of success in overcoming it and recovering quickly. The most common techniques usually involve distracting your mind from what is bothering you and keeping your hands busy and moving. Examples of this are listening to music or kneading bread.
Prevention
Do you know what sets you off and pushes your buttons? With prevention, learning your weaknesses can be a great way to avoid getting into the situation in the first place. The most common ways of doing this is to note down what had happened to cause the urge or what you already know triggers you.
