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I'm an ex-cutter and i'm here to help. I'm not a trained pro or anything but i think that everyone always needs someone to talk to so if i cna be of any helo just holler.
what is cutting?
Self-harm is deliberate injury to one's own body. This injury may be aimed at relieving otherwise unbearable emotions, sensations of unreality and numbness, or for other reasons. Self-harm is generally a social taboo. It is sometimes associated with mental illnesses such as Borderline Personality Disorder, with a history of trauma and abuse; and with mental traits such as perfectionism.
Self-Injury, also commonly known as self-harm; self-mutilation; self-abuse; and self inflicted violence, is defined as the deliberate harming or alteration of one's body tissue without the conscious intent to commit suicide. Integral to this definition are several key concepts. First, self-injury is an act done to the self. Second, it is done by the self. Third, it must include some type of physical violence. Fourth, self-injury is not undertaken with the intent to kill oneself. And fifth, it is an intentional act.
A common form of self-injury involves making shallow cuts to the skin of the arms or legs. This is casually referred to as "cutting"; a person who routinely does this may be colloquially called "a cutter". Localized multiple cuts, especially those similar in appearance, are sometimes characteristic of cutting, but are not reliable indicators of self-harm. Less frequently, this behaviour may involve cutting other parts of the body, including the breasts and sexual organs. Other examples of self-injury include:
Punching, hitting and scratching
Self-biting of hands, limbs, tongue, lips, or arms
Picking at wounds, ulceration, sutures, or blemishes
Burning, including cigarette burns, and self-incendiarism
Stabbing self with wire, pins, nails, or pens
Ingesting corrosive chemicals, batteries, or pins
Some people also report self-poisoning as a form of repetitive self-harm with no suicidal intent.
A popular misconception of self-harm is that it is an attention seeking behavior. In truth, many people who self-harm are very self-conscious of their wounds and scars and go to great lengths to conceal their behavior from others. They may offer alternative explanations for their injuries or conceal their scars with clothing.Medical facts.
Self injury exists. When your child is wearing long sleeves in the middle of a hot summer day, ask them, Why?
When you are sitting with a friend and ask them about the dark slices on their arms and they shrug it off with "The cat scratched me"do not let it go. Ask them. Care. Self mutilation is startlingly real,and in your own living room and the sooner we address this matter head on, the better. The majority of people who self injure do not self injure for attention. That is a huge misconception. People do not self injure because it is a "cool" or "emo" thing to do. Self injury is not limited to adolescence. I will give you the facts here, the methods, and the signs. I sincerely hope this helps someone.
Princess Diana was a self injurer. In her book, she described cutting open her arms and smearing the blood along the walls of Charles' private airplane. Here are some facts about self injury. Talk about this with your family if you live with the grim reality of self injury. Talk with your family doctor. Bring the shame of this illness to light, so you can begin to heal, and begin to live again.
First, the methods. For the parents out there reading this, look for the signs. Your kids are asking you for help if this is happening, and anger is not the way to help them heal. Anger is understandable, it comes with your initial panic of realizing what your child is going through. But anger is not the way to handle this. Every architect has tools, and every injurer has his or her preferred methods. Here are some.
Cutting - Cutting, also known as slicing or slashing, is the most common way people hurt themselves. It is typically done with a knife, razor blade, piece of glass, or other sharp objects. Most of the cuts are done on the arms, legs, wrists, and chest; but other people cut on other parts of the body such as the stomache, face, neck, breasts, and genitals. But cutting on the arms and wrist is the most common because excuses can be made more easily (for example people can say that they had an accident while cooking).
Burning - Burning is another common way people hurt themselves. Usually done with cigarettes, lighters, matches, kitchen-stove burners, heated objects (branding irons or hot skillets), and burning objects. Sometimes people even use flammable substances such as gasoline, propane, alocohol, and lighter fluid. Similar to cutting, most people burn themselves on their arms, wrists, legs, and chest.
Interferance with the Healing of Wounds - Most people have unconsciously interfered with the healing of a wound but it is considered SI when it is done deliberately. Some people remove stitches prematurely, stick objects such as needles, pins, etc. into the wound, or do other things to reopen the wound.
Hitting - Hitting themselves with their fists is another way that people hurt themselves that is most commonly done on the head or thighs. Although it may not seem as serious as cutting or burning it is done for the same reasons and results.
Extreme Nail Biting - It is common for most people to bite their nails. But when it is used as a form of SI it is more severe and frequent than normal. It can result in the injury and damage of the fingernails or cuticles. People can bite their fingernails so much that they draw blood.
Scratching - Another common thing amongst most people scratching can become a form of SI. People who use it as a method of SI make it more extreme in frequency, intensity, and duration. Area's of skin can become raw or sometimes even bloody. Usually the scratching is done with the fingernails but sometimes it is done with a sharp or semisharp object such as a knife, comb, or pencil. Sometimes it is done unconsciously.
Hair-Pulling - Trichotillomania, "the excessive and recurrent removal of your own hair resulting in a noticeable loss of hair," is the only form of SI recognized as a psychological disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Usually the hair is removed from the scalp, eyebrows, or beard, but can be from any part of the body. The bald spots that result from Trichotillomania are usually covered with a hat, bandage, or sunglasses.
Breaking of bones - A form of SI that is more rare than the others, the breaking of bones is a serious and severe form of SI. Usually, people break their bones with an instrument such as a hammer, brick, or other heavy objects. But sometimes people throw themselves into walls or doors.
Other - There are other ways people hurt themselves that are not listed here. The above are just the most commonly known.
Why, why would anyone choose to do this to themselves? What would a person get out of this? Here are some of the most common payoffs. Noone does anything unless there is some sort of pay off, and that is true even for self injury.
Relief from feelings - Often people hurt themselves to try to relieve intense emotions and feel better. These intense feelings can seem uncontrollable, frightening, and dangerous. When people have them they may think that hurting themselves is the only way to escape these feelings.
People who hurt themselves often are unable to control their emotions. They cannot experience and express them the way most people do: by crying, screaming, yelling, etc. This can be due to a number of reasons.
It may have been unsafe- for psychological or physical reasons- to express your emotions at home, etc. The expression of your emotions may have been ignored, denied, or disputed.
Your parents or people you grew up with may have not been able to express their own emotions in a safe and direct manner. Or if they did express an emotion such as anger they did so through violence. You may have seen people relieve their feelings or depression or anxiety through drug and alcohol use. You may have never been shown how to express feelings in a normal and healthy manner.
You may have seen others SI to release their feelings, and have mimicked them.
People who SI often say that they feel depressed, isolated, alienated, isolated, or frustrated before they SI. This can cause an uncomfortable level of anxiety and torment, which they feel they must escape. SI will lessen these feelings temporarily.
Coping Mechanism - A coping mechanism is a method of coping people use to help them get through difficult times. SI is an extreme method that provides a sense of relief- as you know by lessening physical or psychological feelings. Thy physical damage and pain cause the body to employ its own coping methods to deal with them. SI is a negative coping mechanism because it causes people further harm and puts them in dangerous or uncomfortable situations.
Stopping, Inducing, or Preventing Dissociation - Dissociation is "a psychological state in which the indivual experiences an alteration in consciousness, memory, and sometimes identity." People who experience it may feel detached from their bodies, a floating sensation, or a sense that they are separated from their bodies, watching themselves. Everybody has experienced mild dissociation- for example tuning out when someone is talking to you. But some people use dissociation as a coping mechanism. The dissociative states they may experience sometimes become overwhelming because of how long they last or their intensity. SI is way to reduce, prevent, or stop a dissociative state.
This is how it generally occurs: The extreme anxiety that precedes SI often can cause people to dissociate where physical pain is lessened. Some people welcome their dissociative feelings because they can be a relief from emotional pain. However, other people feel that dissociation is uncomfortable, frightening, or alienating. SI increases self-awareness in these dissociative states and reduce or end it.
There is an extreme form of dissociation which can lead to alterations in identity, known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder). For some people with DID SI is a way to gain control, avoid, or end the switching of personalities.
While people SI dissociation block or reduce the feelings of physical pain. This can be very dangerous at times because people lose awareness of how much damage they're inflicting on their bodies. They may hurt themselves more severely than they planned.
After SI-ing the level of dissociation decreases. You may return to a level of normal consciousness so that you might treat your injuries. SI helps you temporarily cope, tolerate, or reduce overwhelming emotions and control your level of dissociation.
Euphoric Feelings - When people SI they, of course, are hurting their bodies. The body responds to the injuries by working to minimize pain and damage and to heal the wound quickly. The brain releases substances called endorphins (has similar effects to morphine) that work as pain-killers when you hurt yourself. Endorphins can also cause a pleasant physical sensation and can become addictive. So, some people SI to produce feelings of euphoria.
You may feel tingling sensations before hurting yourself. Or feel at peace or full of life while you are SI-ing. You may even feel sexually aroused. All these feelings are due to the endorphins.
But the problem is that the body can produce a tolerance to endorphins. The feeling of euphoria won't be as strong in following SI acts. You may even injure yourself more severely to experience the high euphoric feeling you felt during your first SI experience.
Physically Expressing Pain - The physical expression of emotional pain causes some people to achieve certain goals such as:
Evidence (scars, etc.) that you are suffering psychologically. Sometimes people with SI minimize or doubt their internal feelings.
Communication - SI is sometimes used by people to express what they are thinking, feeling, or experiencing to others. By doing this you are more likely to get what you need from family, friends, or others. You might be trying to send out messages such as "I need help," "I hurt," etc. but that is not always the ways others perceive it. They might interpret your SI as "You're crazy," "You're trying to kill yourself," etc. Other people might see you using your SI as manipulation.
WHO TYPICALLY TAKES PART IN SELF INJURY?
Gender- Both men and women hurt themselves. More often women are seen with this behavior in a therapist's office, a psychiatric hospital, etc. Wheras more men are seen with SI in prisons.
Age- SI behavior usually begins when a person is a teenager, escalates in a person's twenties, and disappears by their thirties.
Substance Abuse - Many people who SI have histories of drug and alcohol abuse. Often this is because drugs are another method of coping because they can temporarily ease internal pain. But rarely are people under the influence when they SI.
Eating Disorders - Eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, are common in people who hurt themselves. like SI, eating disorders often have the same psychological effects. Sometimes SI and eating disorders occur simultaneously.
History of Abuse - The majority of people who hurt themselves have suffered physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. But this doesn't mean that everyone who SI's has been abused. Or that everybody who has been abused will start hurting themselves.
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF SELF INJURY
History of Psychological Treatment - Often SI-ers seek therapy to discover answers for their behavior. Therapy has proven a useful tool for some self-injurers but for some people who hurt themselves psychological treatment does not work out because of several reasons.
First, is because psychologists sometimes ignore SI out of inexperience, ignorance, or feelings of digust. This is less true now than when I originally wrote this because of the far greater expanse of information on self-injurious behavior. Mental health professionals are more likely to know about self-injury than they would have ten years ago.
Second, the reactions and strategies for SI by psychologists are often distasteful to the SI-er. They may demand that the SI-er stop hurting themselves or risk being sent to a psychiatric ward or hospital. This still sometimes happens but only if the self-injurer is at great risk or for other mental health issues. Psychologists are less likely to cart off a self-injurer to a psychiatrist than a few years ago because they are more aware of the issues surrounding self-injury and how to treat them.
Finally, WHAT EXACTLY IS SELF INJURY?
Self-Injury (SI) is the act of physically hurting yourself on purpose without the intent of commiting suicide. It is a method of coping during an emotionally difficult time that helps some people temporarily feel better because they have a way to physically express and release the tension and the pain they hold inside. In other people hurting themselves produces chemical changes in their bodies that make them feel happier and more relaxed.
Five key components identify and define SI.
One, SI is a harmful act done to yourself. Do not mistake lashing out in anger at others as SI.
Two, SI is only done by yourself. If anyone else does something to you that causes pain this is not SI.
Three, an act of SI must include some sort of physical violence. Emotionally punishing yourself (calling yourself a bitch or thinking you're stupid, ugly, etc.) is not SI.
Four, an act of SI is not done with the intention of killing yourself. People who slit their wrists to kill themselves, even though they have harmed their body, are not SI-ing.
Last, SI is done intentionally. Not accidentally, but with the intent purpose of hurting yourself.
