The science behind Something Else

When someone’s overwhelmed, hurt, or spiralling, they don’t need a list of suggestions. They need something that works.

Something Else is a simple tool offering guided alternatives to harmful behaviours like self-harm. It doesn’t just tell you what to do - it walks you through it. No logins. No data capture. Just effective support in the moment it’s needed.

Here’s how it works and why.

1. Not just a list

Search for “alternatives to self-harm” and you’ll find hundreds of blog posts and resources. But these are, more often than not, lists of suggestions.

But intense distress brings cognitive overload: a mental fog that makes decision-making challenging. Vague suggestions like “go for a walk” or “distract yourself” require willpower, planning, and emotional distance. In a crisis, those things are in short supply.

Something Else is different. It’s structured, step-by-step, and grounded in clinical insight.

2. Built on science, not slogans

Something Else draws on ideas from:

– Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT): especially distress tolerance skills like TIP (temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing)

– Sensory grounding: evidence-backed techniques to reduce dissociation and restore body awareness

– Crisis planning research: showing that guided alternatives reduce impulsive harm and improve recovery

Each tile is designed to activate these mechanisms: quickly, clearly, and without jargon.

3. The body matters

We’ve just added a new audio guide to Something Else, voiced by freediver and breathwork teacher Eleanor Curtis.

Eleanor’s guided breathing sequences are based on the same techniques used in high-stress underwater diving: slow exhale, diaphragmatic breathing, and attention anchoring. These methods have been shown to down-regulate the nervous system and reduce panic, even in moments of intense stress.

We’ve also included a full-body Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) activity — a method with decades of research behind it. PMR has been shown to significantly reduce anxiety, tension, and physiological arousal in people experiencing distress, and is recommended in NHS self-help resources as part of evidence-based care.

4. Clarity in a crisis

The key design principle behind Something Else is this: clarity under pressure.

– each tile has a single focus (e.g. breathing, grounding, muscle relaxation)

– steps are spoken aloud or shown clearly on-screen

– there’s no tracking, no sign-ups, no loops: just start, follow, and finish

That’s what makes it usable.

5. What’s next

We’re testing and iterating new tiles and would love your feedback and ideas. Everything we build is shaped by clinical insight and real-world feedback. We’re also open to partnerships with researchers, therapists, and lived experience experts who want to co-create something better.

If your organisation works with people at risk of self-harm, we’d love to show you Something Else.