Having a problem with self-harm, suicidal thoughts or actions, or an increased presence of erratic emotions are all major red flags of Borderline Personality Disorder. Having these problems can greatly impact your ability to function properly and keep yourself safe from the overwhelming, up and down emotional rollercoaster that you face every day with this disorder.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, is a common method of treatment where you can learn how to control the negative emotions that fuel your need to harm yourself.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy can help put you back in the driver’s seat of your emotions, taking away their power over you. It can also help rebuild your self-esteem, decrease your anxieties, nurture relationships, and control your anger. All of these steps are going to be crucial in helping you stop idealizing suicide and practicing self-harm.

DBT Practices for Better Emotion Regulation

There are three practices in Dialectical Behavior Therapy that can help you understand how your body and mind communicate, and how you can control that communication in an effort to decrease your need to self-harm. These steps are called T.I.P.:
•Temperature: By changing your body temperature, you will encourage your autonomic nervous system to calm down and begin to relax. This part of your nervous system is what controls your respiratory and cardiovascular systems. For example, do you ever wonder why people splash cold water on their faces when overly stressed? The natural reaction to cold water on the skin stimulates a message to the nervous system telling it to begin to relax. This is practiced through the first step of T.I.P, where you change your temperature to change the way your body is responding to stressful emotions, such as anger and agitation.
•Intensely Exercise: Here, you will focus primarily on your ability to engage in a physical activity designed to allow for stress release. This can be as simple as going to the gym or something more physical such as rock climbing. This stimulates your body and your mind into producing positive chemicals ready to combat negative emotions.
•Progressively Relax your Muscles: You can do this step while sitting at your desk, it’s that easy! You can begin by tensing up each of your muscles for 10 seconds and then releasing them. Start from the top down, the neck to the feet, and this will send signals to your brain that will promote relaxation.

By engaging in the T.I.P practices, you will truly begin to understand how to regain control of your emotions and the feelings that cause you to harm yourself.

Of course, these Dialectical Behavior Therapy practices will never truly work unless you are ready to make a change for yourself by learning how to care about yourself once again. Through understanding and the appropriate actions, you can start your path to recovery through relaxation and control.