There is so much confusion around the addiction of cutting. It's hard for some people to understand why you, or someone you know, would repeatedly harm themselves on purpose. I want to break through the confusion and help those who practice cutting as a way of life. I've heard a lot of people say, why would anyone do such a thing as purposely cause pain to their bodies? So, let's begin to uncover the reasons why so many people cut themselves.
Most People Cut to Cover an Even Deeper Emotional Pain
As I have talked with hundreds of people that self-harm, one major reason emerges over and over again: Most people cut themselves to try to cope with an even deeper emotional pain. If you or anybody you know is cutting, please understand cutting is a way of covering something much deeper and painful going on inside.
Cover Self-Hate
An anonymous blogger put it this way: I used to cut because I felt like it was the only way to feel something other than the hurt and confusion and self-hate that was driving me insane. I would cut because I hated myself so much that I wanted to tear myself to pieces.
Cover Past Trauma
Most cutters' ability to cope with life is overwhelmed by powerful emotions or extreme pressure that seem too intense to bear. Jenessa said she's been a cutter for 7 years. I was sexually abused by someone very close to me. I started cutting because I always thought that what happened was my fault. I have never gotten over it, so I used to cope with any problem I had by cutting. Taking it out on myself was so much easier than figuring out what to do emotionally.
Can't Express Emotional Pain
When these emotions aren't dealt with, tension builds up. Cutting can feel like a release of this tension. Rachel said cutting is a way for her to deal with her pain: It's an escape from reality. No matter how temporary it is it's a relief to escape all the pain.
Most cutters struggle to express their pain to others. Without the words or outlet to express their emotional pain, they give into a short cut, a destructive physical expression toward themself. Laken said cutting is her first reaction when she feels disappointment or difficulty. When I fail a test, when I get in a fight, when I am called a mean name, or when anything bad happens the first thought is to cut. It is horrible and I always fall back on it.
The physical pain has a calming effect on her more agonizing emotional pain. Cutting is the treating of one pain with another. A cutter's life is one of the choices between one kind of pain or a much greater one. Amy said: It feels good when you have physical pain to take away from your emotional pain.
Avoid Dealing with Deep Feelings
The problem with self-injury as with any addiction, is that by harming yourself you never really are able to confront your deepest feelings. Perhaps that is you. You are using cutting to try to cope with an even deeper emotional pain. It is hard to say no to something that feels so good. But in the end, cutting will fail you every time.
Don't lose hope. There are healthy ways to deal with your emotions and to stop cutting for good. Check out these helpful resources on self-harm from TheHopeLine.
If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm, check out TheHopeLine's free eBook.
I'm a really bad person, and I know that no one is perfect, but I am bad. I am ugly and no one cares about me, they just don't; they're not even trying. But, I don't care 'cause no one will ever. I gave up on everyone, I don't trust anyone, I can't. I wish there was at least 1 person that would understand 'an be like, "I know what you're going through, and you're not alone", I don't think so. Because every one sees me as a loser, a 'good-for-nothing' but, why? I always try my best, I do what I can to make them like me, to be just like them, normal. I don't want to be labelled as a loser, ugly, worthless, I don't want to be 'that kid'. I just want to be like every one else who can enjoy, play feel joy, pain, sadness, I want to be recognized by someone. I always try to make people happy and tell them be strong, but I am the weakest person and the lonliest. I've been Depressed in a long time and no one knew, I've been cutting in a long time, I'm sad every day of my life, there's always something that goes wrong, something that ruins everything and makes me think that there's no hope. No one cared enough to ask me am I okay ? Do you need help ? They judged me instead of understanding. I hate myself so much, I wanna tear myself down, no one would care anyway, no one ever did, I've lost hope. Even my own mother and father hate me. They don't see me as their daughter. Why can't someone just understand, what did I ever do to anyone, but I guess they just hate me, it's okay, I hate myself anyway. I'm sick of crying. I'm better off gone.
Live and learn..don't b a doormat...stand up for ur self cuz no one else will
You are BEAUTIFUL! Scars represent the wars you have won! Please talk with a HopeCoach about your relationship with your dad. We believe in you. http://www.thehopeline.com/GetHelp/
My dad tells me that I cut to hurt him. He constantly tells me that I'm now ugly and I ruined my life because of my scars I'm 17 i been clean since my dad found out in September and It's really hard to deal with this. how do I make my dad understand that he was never apart of this? That the problem was myself
your dad doesn't understand you at all. I apologize for this but he is being a jerk, this obviously has nothing to do with him. And he has no right to call you ugly, most people have scars, nobody is perfect. You didn't ruin your life, I hope you know that. You were in a situation in which you saw no other way to relieve the pain or anxiety than to cut yourself. Be gentle with yourself you deserve love, and a few or many scars won't make a difference. Whoever loves you, and whoever you will love will not care about that 🙂 I love every single one of my scars. They are there because I need them to be there. I needed them the moment I chose to slid my wrists, and my arms. Do I regret it, I don't even know. It doesn't even matter. They make me special, and whoever loves me, will love them too <3 When I see someone with scars from cutting all I want to do is kiss every scar and tell you that everything will be okay from now on, you are safe now. I started cutting when I was 16, I'm 25 now, and sometimes I still do. If you need someone to talk to email me
it aint no big deal with skinny thing...many people around the world go through this..but its allright.i mean why to care for the people who hurts you very deep.kindness is a good thing but it should not be a blindness..and crush on someone during this age is common and it is just a passing cloud..crushes happen now and then..but finfing the true love is the thing which matters and do not trust any one blindly.....:-)
I agree.
Why would people give the satisfaction to people that hurt them by hurting themselves? You only give the people that hurt you the satisfaction of hurting you more. It's got to stop.
It's not for them