thoughts on cutting?

[drewblood]

sorry.... i know its a sensitive subject for some. and it's probably already been covered in these here forums... but... what the hay...

some people think it's a embarassment, some think it's a badge of courage, some just accept it as part of who they.

i admit i frequently cut myself. it's a relief.

what are your thoughts?.... share.... or not.

[Morning Glory]

I'd say that it's neither. but it's unhealthy because it is a misplaced attempt to alleviate a problem by addressing only the symptoms and not the causes. But then that's pretty much the normal way that society deals with things and just as self-destructively. It's no different than a heavy drinker or a workaholic.

[drewblood]

i agree completely.

[episode allah]

As long as its a private affair and not done so as to be seen by others I think its fucking great. I'm all for self-destruction.

[Dusk]

I admit I have felt the urge before, but never acted on it other than to make my friend a painting.

[Vikki Vyle]

I think its for attention or cause is due to mental retardation.
Kids do it becuz their friends do or they thing they'll appear more misunderstood or spooky or whatever. Most of them use safety pins!
The overall cutting thing is stupid. Why fuck up your skin with scars and cuts?
but this is just my opinion

[Mr Karl]

some people cut themselves, some people put ships in bottles.....I suppose when it come to taking your mind off things everyone is different

[mystoo]

my ex step daughter used to cut herself. it really freaked me out. she's pretty damn smart for a 15 year old and i just never understood why she would do that to herself.
as for me, i never have, never even thought of it. i'll take emotional pain over physical any day.

[ForrestBlack]

I think its for attention or cause is due to mental retardation.
Kids do it becuz their friends do or they thing they'll appear more misunderstood or spooky or whatever. Most of them use safety pins!
The overall cutting thing is stupid. Why fuck up your skin with scars and cuts?
but this is just my opinion

As with any compulsive behavior, there are a multitude of reasons. One size does not fit all, and so simplification of the issue for the sake of eased understanding or judgment is a dangerous path. Any one of those conclusions is highly debatable.

[Ubiquitress]

As with any compulsive behavior, there are a multitude of reasons. One size does not fit all, and so simplification of the issue for the sake of eased understanding or judgment is a dangerous path. Any one of those conclusions is highly debatable.

amen

[Pull~My~Hair]

for some reason, lately I have had the urge to...i've never done it in my life though..weird

[aXa]

i did it back in my early to mid teens. it was for many reasons. chief among them being "a cry for attention," "a means of self expression," a way to externalize internal problems or stress, a means by which i could turn something emotional or psychological into something physical, a way in which i could execise ccontrol over something i could stop. oh, and i liked the taste of blood. as a form of "blood magic," or a meas by which i could enter an altered state of consciousness.

this occurred mostly during junior high and high school for me. once i graduated - or was near enough to graduating, i realized it was malproductive. it just wasnt really solving anything for me. there were better ways to go about things, etc.

i began looking for other ways to express myself, like writing creatively or in a journal, piercing my ears and stretching them myself, as well as piercing other parts of my body, dying or cutting my hair in a more personal way like shaving parts of it or getting a mohawk. teaching myself how to meditate.

i did have a relapse though, when i broke up with with my girlfriend during my senior year. this was right about when nine inch nails' "the downward spiral" came out. songs like "hurt" and "piggy(nothing can stop me now)" seemed to really fit how damaged i felt. i just...ummm, really wanted to show her how much i was hurting after we broke up. either by inflicting harm on myself or just not really caring about anything at all.

what scared me the most was that, as can often be the case with cutting in general, is that i became desensitized to it. and i would often need to inflict more damage or cut deeper each time. the relief it provided was only temporary, and i was seeing it less and less often.

i still get the urge every so often. nothing im willing to admit to in therapy tho.

[OliX]

Well... try cutting others for a change

It might help

[ForrestBlack]

Sometimes people have a need for transformative experiences, symbolic demarcations that signify change or progress or closure or a shift in outlook, etc.

[Dusk]

Well... try cutting others for a change

It might help

Yes. Yes it does.
I do think some people cut just because its "cool" or they see someone else do it, but there are some others who honestly do this as part of a bigger problem, the problem is that unless you can sit down and figure out wich there is no way to help.
Remember: Not all emos cut, not all cutters are emo.

[Lady Alias]

People were self-harming before all that emo hobola came about or any other trendy snaz.

[aXa]

Sometimes people have a need for transformative experiences, symbolic demarcations that signify change or progress or closure or a shift in outlook, etc.

nicely put.

[OliX]

Sometimes people have a need for transformative experiences, symbolic demarcations that signify change or progress or closure or a shift in outlook, etc.

For that matter I dress up like a douche and go to local mall and start every single girl I see

[drewblood]

thanks for the insights Forrest et all!

[Fleisch]

I think its for attention or cause is due to mental retardation.
Kids do it becuz their friends do or they thing they'll appear more misunderstood or spooky or whatever. Most of them use safety pins!
The overall cutting thing is stupid. Why fuck up your skin with scars and cuts?
but this is just my opinion

You are HOT, but i have to disagree with you on this one. I used to cut myself too when i was younger, i did it cos i felt empty inside.
I think most do it as a cry for

[soma_stardust]

hi, my name is soma and i'm a cutter.
i don't do it much anymore, but once a cutter, always a cutter.
in times of severe stress (like shortly after my mom passed on) i will still cut. i avoid it because the people i live with would be pissed to an extreme measure and i like living here. (no, i'm not in a psych ward D: )
i try to take out my emotional pain in other ways, like sex. and piercings, tattoos, etc. (when i can afford it or can get ahold of my friend who does it free if i model for him.)
it's really hard not to, sometimes. just thinking about it makes me want to cut. i can't really pinpoint the cause. i just want to feel the pain and the blood and all that...
i'm probably really just fucked up.

~soma~

[Vix]

i was "emo" once before
whatever the phase... and i do think its a phase... they will grow out of it... or embrace it ad an adult.. whatever the case, its about the indevidual.. anyway if you want to cut get a tat it looks much better

[Ajax Knucklebones]

Is any of it due to the whole "pain is pleasure" thought process?

[soma_stardust]

i was "emo" once before
whatever the phase... and i do think its a phase... they will grow out of it... or embrace it ad an adult.. whatever the case, its about the indevidual.. anyway if you want to cut get a tat it looks much better

i am not, and never will be "emo"
it's not always a phase. some *younger* people seem to think of this as a way of getting attention. "look at me i'm so full of ANGST." those are the people to whom it's a phase.
but there are the others, like myself, for whom it is not a phase. it is a psychological condition of some sort. i take meds now, so it isn't so bad.
and part of the cutting thought process is that it is immediate. "oh, life blows, i need to cut... but instead, let me call up the tattoo shop and schedule an appointment for next week...." doesn't always work.

Is any of it due to the whole "pain is pleasure" thought process?

sometimes, yes.
mostly it's "this physical pain is better than the pain in my heart and it distracts me from the horrible realities of my crappy situation."

~soma~

[Ajax Knucklebones]

i am not, and never will be "emo"
it's not always a phase. some *younger* people seem to think of this as a way of getting attention. "look at me i'm so full of ANGST." those are the people to whom it's a phase.
but there are the others, like myself, for whom it is not a phase. it is a psychological condition of some sort. i take meds now, so it isn't so bad.
and part of the cutting thought process is that it is immediate. "oh, life blows, i need to cut... but instead, let me call up the tattoo shop and schedule an appointment for next week...." doesn't always work.



sometimes, yes.
mostly it's "this physical pain is better than the pain in my heart and it distracts me from the horrible realities of my crappy situation."

~soma~

When I used to have anxiety attacks, I'd pinch something on my body real hard until the pain was...well...pretty painful. It helped take my mind off my anxiety attack and focus more on the physical pain at hand, thus my attack would go away.

Since it was just a pinch, the pain didn't last long, but it did the job. Is cutting kind of like that, but in the long term?

[OliX]

I can't remember because it was long ago, I'm sure someone else will give you a good insight on that.

I did it when I fas frustrated teenager filled with hormones and just had fought my mom. Main reason was frustration. Why cutting? It makes a clear statement.

[soma_stardust]

When I used to have anxiety attacks, I'd pinch something on my body real hard until the pain was...well...pretty painful. It helped take my mind off my anxiety attack and focus more on the physical pain at hand, thus my attack would go away.

Since it was just a pinch, the pain didn't last long, but it did the job. Is cutting kind of like that, but in the long term?

yes. and it makes you bleed.
sometimes instead of cutting i'll kind of scratch myself, dig my nails in really hard.... it'll leave minor scars sometimes. no blood though. i seem to desire the blood aspect.
there are other ways cutters deal with trying not to cut. for example, snapping a rubber band around their wrist. i've never found these helpful. they're not the same!
another thing that might be weird about me... when i would cut, it was comforting to me. (besides the pain and the blood) i'd dress the wound and play nurse to myself. kind of like i was taking care of me since no one else would... so i knew that i'd always have me to care for me... dunno if anyone else has felt like that...

~soma~

[Pull~My~Hair]

When I used to have anxiety attacks, I'd pinch something on my body real hard until the pain was...well...pretty painful. It helped take my mind off my anxiety attack and focus more on the physical pain at hand, thus my attack would go away.

Since it was just a pinch, the pain didn't last long, but it did the job. Is cutting kind of like that, but in the long term?

sometimes I do that when I have anxiety attacks too. Sometimes it doesnt work though

[Rockwulf]

I think it's awesome. I just wish they'd cut deep enough to matter.

[Vexbeast]

I'd like to say it's stupid, but I honestly don't believe it is. I mean, if it helps, go for it...

I don't understand it at all though. Physical pain has never done anything to distract me. Suicide I could understand, what was that quote... "Swim with the flow of the river, not across it."? Something like that... <.<

Still, that might just be because my stupid head won't stop thinking... hard to be distracted from everything when there's always something on your mind.

[Rockwulf]

Go down the road, not across the street.

[Morning Glory]

what was that quote... "Swim with the flow of the river, not across it."? Something like that... <.<

yeah, I think you are confusing wilderness survival tips with how to kill yourself.

[Rockwulf]

[jonny.illuminati]

nice...

help save on health care! do it right the first time...

that's just wrong!

[soma_stardust]

there is nothing right about you.

~soma~

[Raza]

I think it's pretty hot - I'm into blood, wounds, scars and all that both sexually and aesthetically. I'm not too keen on the whole angst thing that apparently goes with it for some, nor on people that absurdly assume out of hand that everyone who would take a knife to their skin does so out of some deep-seated psychological inadequacy, but meh - it's still cool.

I've cut myself many times, and I've had lovers cut me many more times than that. It's an expression of a morbid mindset, it's a sensual thrill, it's a means to an aesthetic ideal, it's a surrender to someone you love and an act of deep intimacy. Sometimes I do it for one of these reasons above the others; at the best of times I do it for all of them at once.

I got de-modded and banned from a major gaming forum for posting that image once. Good times.

[Rockwulf]

there is nothing right about you.

~soma~

They're all gonna laugh at you.

[soma_stardust]

They're all gonna laugh at you.

[soma_stardust]

I think it's pretty hot - I'm into blood, wounds, scars and all that both sexually and aesthetically. I'm not too keen on the whole angst thing that apparently goes with it for some, nor on people that absurdly assume out of hand that everyone who would take a knife to their skin does so out of some deep-seated psychological inadequacy, but meh - it's still cool.

I've cut myself many times, and I've had lovers cut me many more times than that. It's an expression of a morbid mindset, it's a sensual thrill, it's a means to an aesthetic ideal, it's a surrender to someone you love and an act of deep intimacy. Sometimes I do it for one of these reasons above the others; at the best of times I do it for all of them at once.

i don't think i would let anyone cut me... for me it's so deeply personal, i need to do it myself.
piercing, however.... that's the shit.
i like this:

It's an expression of a morbid mindset, it's a sensual thrill, it's a means to an aesthetic ideal

best of all. you really know how to express things just so.
this is definitely part of why i like cutting... when i'm not doing it out of a deep psychological breakdown.
i'm definitely considering scarification... carving some symbol of deep meaning to me... i just need to pick the right symbol, and do it right so that it looks ok...

~soma~

[Vix]

[QUOTE=soma_stardust]i am not, and never will be "emo"

yes you are... your first sentence confirms it. I wasnt specifically talking about your good self, i was just mearly trying to find a word for it.. "emo" sounds right..

I used work with a girl who has autistic ( tendencies), She has self injerious behaviour and she does this as a direct result to when things dont go according to her plan. Her psyscological problems occur differently according to her autism, ie she gets very upset when things arnt dried properly, and or when it is raining, she wont tolerate it when things are wet. Another part of her autism is a sudden change in things, she cant accept anything new. She exibits very little SIB and tends to cry instead. However when things if her gets broken or she cant have a favourite toy she does (SIB) thinking this will get her what she wants...She is a very clever girl and knows how to manupilate ppl to her advantage.

Ofc I cant comment on everyone here, I didnt mean "emo" to sound like such a harsh word, but it breaks down to a cry for attention. Which in itself is psyscological...

Its a good debate, i still think " cutters" or ppl that (suffer?) from sib should get tatoos instead or at least find a good piercer