Every day that you don't self harm, drags on by. Which each passing time, the urge grows stronger. It's hard to fight it off. Imagine a bear is behind you and you have the urge to run away. The closer is gets, the more you want to get away.

The number of safe days almost becomes a challenge for yourself. Yes, it feels nice and prideful to have a nice amount of clean days. But if it's low it almost makes you feel ashamed. But the higher it is, the likelier you are for relapse.

Relapse is very common in addictions. Self harmers tend to go periods of time without it, but one thing can set them back. However relapse is part of recovery and necessary. Don't be ashamed of someone for messing up. Be proud of them for making it that far and encourage them to stay safe longer.

The journey is messy, but in the end you'll be clean.