I tried to find a forum that was most appropriate for this topic

i myself dont cut, cause just thinking about it makes me go "bughh". yeah whenever i depressed i just walk in the woods.. nature cheers me up. kind of

 

I used to cut when i was a young teen (as i think a lot of young teens do, or they go through a destructive streak and do soemthing be it drinking, drugs or mutulation etc) However i was with a guy who used to cut far more than i did, to points of passing out and i stoped because i realised it was hypocritical of me to tell him to stop when i did it.
However i turned to smashing my head into walls instead... then one night when drunk he found out and knocked himself out to try and get me to stop..... that did make me stop.
Then when me and him broke up we both stoped eating for about 2 weeks, became very ill. When i saw him again icould see his chest moving from his heart beat (he was already incredibly thin anyway as he basically only ate sweets and bread not meat or veg)
Then we both got back together went to college and created lifes for ourselfs outside each other and were able to break up. We are still friends....i dont know if he still cuts himself but i know he continued to have a problem after we broke up for a while.

The need for attention isnt a bad thing, its nothing you need to deny if that is why you do it because often thats a perfectly valid reason. Personally id do it thinking "i hope someone can finaly see that im in pain" but then would continue to hide them and if anyone saw them id feel terrible for burdening them with my problems.

I warn anyone who does it, its a vicious cycle thats incredibly hard to break away from.... even now about 3 years later i occasionally get an urge. U usually when im about to have an anxiety attack... but ive learnt to realise when im goingto feel like that and do something about it, generally phone someone or get out of the house.

 

I hear that cutting releases endorphins, it's a natural reaction to pain. Thats why runners get what's called "the runner's high" because the pain in the muscles triggers a release of endorphins to cover up the pain. This also happens to people who make themselves throw up all the time. Also, the element of control is supposedly important, it's like, "well, if I have to feel pain, I'LL be the one in control of it." Eventually it becomes a sort of endorphin-addiction, which is why it's so hard to stop. I never did it myself but I know people who do, and they try to stop but always seem to go back to it. The control and endorphin rush both push the cutter to keep cutting, it's a self-rewarding process. I think the trick to moving away from bodily destruction is a therepist and another way to get endorphin rushes. Maybe they should start running It'd also be good to deal with the problem rather than mask it, which just makes it stronger.

 

If you want to read more about it for general information of because you cut yourself or whatever.. go to this website:

http://crystal.palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html

It's extremely good.. doesn't judge but offers alternatives (that hurt as well etc.).. it's really an amazing website.

 

I must have missed the bus. What ever happened to listening to/ playing some music, smoking a joint nd going to sleep? I never judge anyone, but this one seems a bit out there. I've never heard of this before, which is strange. I'm just as big a part of Gen. Y as anyone else; I'd think it would have come up with my friends or classmates in the 4 years I was in H.School.

 

yea, everytime i accidently get cut i saw "ow" and get a band-aid too. it's NOT the same thing. most people don't cut directly on vains, cause suicide isn't the objective. I'm not going to explain a whole lot to you, cause yer obviously a dumbass who doesn't, and prolly never will understand. and btw, there are lots of adults that self-harm too. ("mutilation" bothers me, cause the point isn't to make weird marks just fer the hell of it)



anyway... to the original poster....

lots of people do it fer to release anger or emotional pain, some do it to make sure they're still alive (disassociation). there are lots of reasons.... cutting isn't the only way to harm yerself (as i said above, self "mutilation" is annoying cause the point isn't to make marks)..... it's anything that hurts: burning, hitting things on yer head, pulling your hair, hitting yer head on the wall, punching/kicking until something bleeds or breaks, etc..... i even read about this one guy who takes a scalpel and cuts open his navel and plays with his bowels. UGH. sorry, that freaks me out, lol.... anyway, it's not some "stupid teenage phase" that everyone goes through, or whatever bullshit people like The End Complete like to think. it's not. people as young as 11 and 12 (sometimes younger) and as old as in their fourties or fifties self-harm. it's not something to make fun of, or take lightly, or scorn.

 

Quite often, in fact. Many people who started cutting as teens continue, but are able to hide it better. My step sister used to do this. It was easier for her father to tell people they were "suicide attempts" than to admit she was a mutilator. Both he and her mother were in total denial about the thing. When her mother died, after a while, her dad met my mom and they got married, of course my mother thought she could "cure" Andi. She just kept cutting and burning, she was adopted, and we don''t know what happened to her before she was adopted, but many cutters were abused as children. She was also a closet lesbian, and I think if she had come out earlier (she came out in her late 30s) she wouldn';t have had to cut.

Well, she went to all kinds of programs, SAFE, ect. She died of a heroin-cocaine OD five years ago. THEN her father started telling people she died of a "medication interaction." GOD, some people foster this behavior by not wanting to learn about it.

I have never cut, but I really feel for these people. I think only those in the depths of horrible psychic pain would want to do this. People need to stop thinking they can just YELL a cutter out of her behavior. It isnt suicide, it isn't "just for attention" it is a symptom of severe psychic pain, and it can't be cured until that is admitted and dealt with.

I hope my step sister can rest now. I wish she didn't have to die.

 

I think that most people I know turn to drugs to help with their depression.

 

hmm ive done self harm since the age of 8 years old.Tripping BTM seems to understand. Its as addictive and as harmful assmoking tobbaco. I stop all the time, ive gone wivout cutting myself for six months,and i lostcontrol again today, theonlyone person who knows is my soulmate, because he does it too, we dont try 2 stop each other anymore, were just there for each other wen itdoes happern and if the cuts get to bad we clean them up 4 eachother.
Everyone hasthere reasons for doing it, alot of differentreasons im sure. Mine go 2 deep into talk about it, but self harmers the realones dont do it for attention seeking, theyhide them.
feel free 2 pm me if you want moreof myopnion buti wont post more as a public site.

 

im not a cutter but i think its just a way of expression, although not good, those types should seek help.

 

Indeed there are people who want relief for any depression or stress or emotional pain by translating it into physical pain, because self-induced physical pain is not as scary because it has a clear source. I think. I feel sorry for those people and hope they will find another way of dealing with whatever the reason is for their cutting.

But on the other hand, when you look at a big part of the American youth today, the nu-metal / emo kids and the so-called-goths... I know a few and it seems to me that there is actually a TREND in being depressed in their subcultures. I can't shake off the feeling that indeed there are plenty of young people who DO cut for attention. I mean, if they act like they're satanists and bisexual for attention too, it's not such a big step.

I myself don't, and have never, cut myself. But then again, I'm very rarely depressed. Even little downs happen very sporadically. I guess I'm too damn happy to really have a coherent opinion about it...

 

Hey, you're lucky.

I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but even if you cut for attention - you must have a problem. I mean whatever brings you to hurting yourself must be a problem. Heck, "seeking for attention" can also mean "Look, I'm hurt, it's not my imagination, everyone can see there's something not right with me, please care for me!", it's the expression of a feeling, and if you need care and attention so badly you're even willing to cut, it's not "pretended".

PS - I am a "self-injurer" myself, but I'm not all that deep in the whole shit yet. More an occasional stoner that a heroin junkie, if you know what I mean.