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 am 17 year's old I live in citrus county forest. I am a cutter. I need help. Is there a place I can attend for group meetings for teens like me. I want to stop.
Im 23 right now, and ive been a cutter on and off since my sophomore year of high school. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at that point. Self-loathing was and still is a major factor in my cutting. As a few of you mentioned, cutting releases endorphins as a pain killer....part of the reason why its so addicting. Ill go months without doing any cutting, but generally heartach os what throws me back into the swing. For anyone who is looking this u because someone you love is cutting.....more than likely, its not your fault. We have a laundry list of reasons why we do what we do. Anger and frustration wont help.....we dont expect you to understand.....just know that sometimes, all we need is an ear to listen.
Hello I have been a cutter for 20 years, I'm not saying this to scare any of you or for you to loose hope. Most people get help or things change and they no longer feel the need to cut. I how ever am an unusual case. Although I have not cut in 2 years I fight the urge to cut all to often. I am covered in scars from my face to my feet, there isn't a place without a scar. I'm fighting the urge right now so forgive me if I go on. I have all to much experience in this and I just want to give a little advice hoping to help some of you. My mother never got me help, she just did nothing. I was harmed in my ways as a child, and closed up inside. I kept everything in side and never talked to anyone about anything, not that there was anyone to talk to any way. It had to come out some how. That's where cutting came in. Now as an adult I am still facing this, I don't talk and when I try to the people around me don't want to listen. So it gets bottled up inside again. The hardest thing is not having anyone to talk to. If you are trying to get someone help for cutting, always want to listen no matter how small or stupid the conversation seems. You can say go out make friends but you know it's not that simple for some of us. Just be there for them, getting them help with a therapist is a good start, just showing them you are there and you care. Don't judge and understand it's harder for the cutter than you know. I'm not sure that all came out the way I wanted it to. Good luck to you. I would love answer any questions you might have
So, that's why we cut. Because we need someone to talk to and have no one. Those feelings bottled up inside just won't leave us alone. Thanks for making me realize that. I've been trying to figure out why do I still cut. I didn't do it for many years, but I stopped therapy, and here I am now, feeling alone again lol. I hope my email doesn't get blocked lol I am a genuine person, a cutter you may say, and I would love to talk to someone who goes through the same crap I do.. or just the cutting.
I have been cutting since I was 13. I am now 25. When I was 11, my dad disppeared. I've always lived with my mom, but one summer he put me on a plane home and refused to talk to me for 3 years. My step dad hated me and my sister and I were always fighting. We moved around every 6 months when i was little so I didnt have any long term friends at the time. The only person I was close to was my grandma and I wasn't allowed to see her often. She was the only person who listened to me and believed me; once I told her things that happened at home and she confronted my mom. From then on I wasn't allowed to see her often. It's never been about a relationship, because I cut even when I am in one. It started when I was so upset I hit a brick wall and shattered my knuckle. I was so lost and upset and the physical pain took the edge away. I started experimenting with different things i.e. burns and bruises, then I found started cutting. I have yet to make it a year without doing it. When my mom found out she got so mad at me. She grounded me, made me not allowed to close my door or shave with a razor. They took me to a psychiatrist and I eventually opened up and started talking about the things that hurt the most. After a few months, she got a new job and I wasn't about to spill my guts to someone else just to have them leave too. Sometimes I feel like an idiot, I'm 25 and still doing this. I have a very type A personality and I take on a lot. I excel at almost everything I take on, but when I fail it destroys me. I feel like I've let so many people down in my life. I think I want to stop, but the truth is I don't think I do. I like the quick fix and I don't trust anyone enough to really try and sort it out.
🙁 Hopefully one day I won't need this, but I doubt it.
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