Self-Harm: First Steps When the Storm Is Inside

When there is too much pain inside, it can feel like there is no way out and that no one needs you. Dr. Saulitis reminds us: mental pain is not a verdict and not "forever." If left untreated, psychotraumatization turns into a chronic form — which is exactly why it matters so much not to stay alone with it and to take the first, simplest steps toward recovery.

Psychiatry Is Closer Than It Seems

The doctor stresses that mental difficulties are not something rare or "not about you." They occur far more often than we imagine: depression can accompany many physical illnesses and can drag on for months. This means your state is not a shame or a unique catastrophe — it is something that people are helped through and pulled out of.

"Psychiatry is, in 90 percent of cases, closer and more common than we ever think or imagine."

First — Do Not Increase the Trauma

The core principle of gentleness: "we correctly do not increase this trauma." When the storm rages inside, the first task is not to deliver a new blow to yourself, but to give the psyche conditions for the daze to pass. Just as after a concussion you need rest, here too you must not pour oil on the fire, but rebuild the foundation.

The Foundation of the Psyche Comes First

The doctor names a concrete foundation for recovery: tending to mental health 24 hours a day. That means good sleep, nutrition, and being constantly occupied with something.

"Once the psyche settles, you will have the energy to make a decision."

When homeostasis — sleep and food — is restored, energy returns. And with energy comes back the ability to make a decision. This is a key sign: "making a decision is a sign of health," a sign that the brain is recovering functionally.

A Decision Built on Facts

The doctor distinguishes two kinds of decisions. One is "emotional-affective," dictated by pain and the delusion of the moment. The other is a decision that "sits on facts," on cause and effect, when the human brain switches on instead of the impulse. In a storm of emotion, the point is not to act on the first impulse but to lean on critical thinking and wait until clarity returns.

Be Needed and Reach for Beauty

A paradoxical but important step: instead of "I need help, I'm sick," try to become needed by someone. The doctor advises starting to do something alongside someone who has it harder (for example, helping an elderly person). This sense that "someone needs you nearby" brings back charge, potential, energy. And second — absorb beauty: nature, the things people create, anything that inspires. "Only beauty will save the world" is about pulling yourself up through awe, through the neocortex, rather than drowning in pain.

Practice

1. Sleep and food first. If you cannot make a decision, that is a signal: first restore sleep and eating. "Get enough sleep, run," live fully loaded with activity.
2. Do not increase the trauma. Today — one task: do not deliver a new blow to yourself. Just today, hour by hour.
3. Do not act on impulse. Tell the pain of the moment apart from a decision based on facts. The acute feeling will pass — wait it out.
4. Become needed. Do one small thing for another person — it brings energy back.
5. Reach for beauty. Find what inspires you and stay with it for a while.

Where to Get Help

In an acute state, do not stay alone: contact a specialist immediately or call an emergency helpline. In Russia — 112. The doctor says honestly: those who keep going and recover are the ones who get help. So the value of reaching out for help and of support from loved ones is immense; asking for help is strength, not weakness.