People Cutting Themselves

[bridgette]

Somebody said "I haven't cut myself in 4 days".....

I can appreciate their willpower, but what makes somebody start cutting on his/her body??

[cindylawson123]

I feel that when a person starts cutting on his/her body it is a sure sign of that person is hurting inside. There are also certain people who may be angry and not being able to vent their anger they turn their anger on themselves by cutting and causing harm to themselves.

[Honesty]

Injuring yourself on purpose by making scratches or cuts on your body with a sharp object — enough to break the skin and make it bleed — is called cutting. Cutting is a type of self-injury, or SI. Most people who cut are girls, but guys self-injure, too. People who cut usually start cutting in their young teens. Some continue to cut into adulthood. People may cut themselves on their wrists, arms, legs, or bellies. Some people self-injure by burning their skin with the end of a cigarette or lighted match.It can be hard to understand why people cut themselves on purpose. Cutting is a way some people try to cope with the pain of strong emotions, intense pressure, or upsetting relationship problems. They may be dealing with feelings that seem too difficult to bear, or bad situations they think can't change.

[watson]

Somebody said "I haven't cut myself in 4 days".....

I can appreciate their willpower, but what makes somebody start cutting on his/her body??

They convince themselves that they have done something wrong and that by cutting themselves it is a form of punishment. Usually they try to justify it by saying it makes the pain go away or it feels good, but they are just using those words as an excuse for their actions. When people are doing this they need to be taken to see help instantly.

[LeeLeeIsMe]

I know many people who cut, and they often say they cut to prove that they are alive and that it is an outlet for emotions, like writing is for others.

[watson]

I know many people who cut, and they often say they cut to prove that they are alive and that it is an outlet for emotions, like writing is for others.

Yes, except writing does not hurt anyone or cause physical damage. People say all sort of things as an excuse for their abnormal behavior. They try to justify it by stating such things as, "It makes me feel alive." Well they could act alive to do the very same thing, but instead they practice self mutilation. No excuse for it...

[jasonxxx102]

I doubt its a form of punsihment I believe its a form of anger and frustration people have different ways of releasing stress. I know some people who cut to make the ones who hurt them feel bad about themselves

[watson]

Actually... my brother has a friend over right now and she is one of these people that finds it alright to cut away at her own flesh. That is just so abnormal and people like her needs treatment to get fixed. It is such a shame.

[Ricardo]

I wonder how cutting relates to the fashion trends of piercings and tattoos?

I know the two fields are quite different, but there seems to be an element of expression in some cases of cutting, maybe somewhat as there is in piercings and tattoos.

[Simplyme]

At a very young age of 12 I suffered from self mutilation which I did in the form of cutting my legs and arms one requiring an Emergency Room visit. I had just found out that my Mother who we had just been taken away from was terminally ill and the frustration, depression and the sense of overwhelming helplessness was an unbearable thing. Self mutilation/cutting made me feel a pain that I could easily identify the cause of and felt I could deal with and do something about.

The reasons for everyone can vary greatly but as many have mentioned I think the leading cause is depression.

[daftcow]

I doubt its a form of punsihment I believe its a form of anger and frustration people have different ways of releasing stress. I know some people who cut to make the ones who hurt them feel bad about themselves

]

For me it was a form of self-punishment. It didnt start out that way, however. When I was in my teens, my dad used to get drunk and shout and scream at me. One day, when I was 18, I was trying to focus on something, rather than my dad screaming, and I was absent-mindedly scratching hard on the back of my hand. It was only when I was alone later I realised I had scraped away all the skin and there was bare flesh. After that it became easier to do that. I started using implements like scissors to scrape away my skin (the wounds looked like burns so it was easy to make up cover stories). I graduated to razors later. After a while when I felt bad or angry at myself (now it seems i was needlessly angry), I would scrape or cut myself. It calmed me and made me feel that justice was done.  Id tell myself it was my own fault for being so stupid/fat/lazy/ugly/mouthy (if id been in trouble for telling my brother to f*** off - even at the age of 19)/unlovable/or whatever else I felt that day. I was in self-destruct mode. Sleeping around, drinking too much, I hated myself and wanted to die.

[daftcow]

Yes, except writing does not hurt anyone or cause physical damage. People say all sort of things as an excuse for their abnormal behavior. They try to justify it by stating such things as, "It makes me feel alive." Well they could act alive to do the very same thing, but instead they practice self mutilation. No excuse for it...

Your opinion shows a lack of understanding over the issue. Only someone who has self-harmed before can truly understand the mind-set. Your post comes across as hostile. Yes, self-harm is unhealthy and no, it wont solve the persons problems but it is a coping-strategy where they have no other way of coping. Its only when they get help (like I did) that they can look at things objectively and change their lives. They arent trying to excuse their actions, they are trying to explain them.

[shadow]

I cut myself from 7th grade up until this year, which would be my junior year of high school.  I cut my arms, legs, belly, and ankles.  The scars on my right ankle will probably never go away.   For me, it wasn't because I was really angry at myself, and I wasn't suicidal. When you cut, it releases endomorphines. For some reason, the site of my blood also relaxed me a little.  When you are physically in pain, it takes away from whatever it antagonizing you mental/emotionally. I would spend hours in my room slicing at my ankle, and when I was finished whatever had been making me upset usually didn't seem as bad anymore.

I got help for it when my parents found out.  I stopped for awhile, and started again. It went off and on for awhile. Cutting is VERY addictive. Its extremely hard to stop once you get addicted to it.  I was finally able to stop completely with the help of counseling and anti-depressants.

My advice for anyone cutting or burning themselves is to talk to someone you trust about it.  Realize that you have a problem, and that you need to find help for it.

[anaklio]

It's a pretty common phenomena, I see it often in teenage females. I often see evidence of borderline personality in this population as well. Interestingly, here's a new study investigating cutting in borderline.

Hayakawa (2009)

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to examine a possible treatment for patients with borderline personality disorder who have wrist-cutting syndrome, a condition characterized by repeated, superficial wrist cutting in a non-suicidal fashion. Within the current healthcare system in Japan, the average amount of time a doctor can spend with a psychiatric outpatient is about 8 to 15 minutes. We, therefore, examined whether repeated 15-minute psychotherapy sessions to improve patient assertiveness would be effective for reducing wrist cutting and possibly other forms of self-mutilation. METHODS: We treated 13 patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and wrist-cutting syndrome with assertiveness training during 15-minute, biweekly therapy sessions over a course of one to four years. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: At the conclusion of psychotherapeutic treatment, 69% of outpatients showed a statistically significant reduction in wrist-cutting behavior.

[SWM]

We, therefore, examined whether repeated 15-minute psychotherapy sessions to improve patient assertiveness would be effective for reducing wrist cutting and possibly other forms of self-mutilation.

i would like to read this article just to understand why they chose assertiveness training of all things. odd!

[anaklio]

Please read away :-)

Title: How repeated 15-minute assertiveness Training sessions reduce wrist cutting in patients with borderline personality disorder.
Author: Hayakawa, M.
Journal: American Journal of Psychotherapy
Year: 2009
Volume: 63
Number 1
Pages: 41-51

[ozziemate]

I have found from my own bitter experience that cutting is the last stand against  Self or God but in particular destiny. It is a way of saying to destiny [fate] give me a break or I'll cut my self. Take my emotional situation seriously and do something! A statement of self frustration and severe frustration with your lifes apparent direction.
Whilst I have never got to the point of drawing blood I had been strongly tempted to do so and it is understanding the temptation in depth that allowed me to avoid the actual act of drawing blood.
It is initially part of the blame game. That is it is done as a form of self extortion. Holding yourself to ransom by threatening to injure your self. Also the smell of blood does indeed become addictive and has close associations with olfactory requirements of the immune system, same with taste.
And after the act it is like "well thats what you [Self/God] wanted me to do and well thats what I did" as a form of self justification for the act.

IMO
On a lighter note:
It reminds me of a scene in the popular animated sitcom "The Simpsons" where Homer is kneeling beside his bed with a plate of cookies or something and asks God: "God, can I eat this plate load of cookies? If you say yes I shall and if you say no, I wont, and if you say nothing at all I assume you mean yes?"

Where upon Homer always gets to eat his cookies because he knows God will never ever respond to extortion.