Why do people cut their selves when they're depressed?

Answer 1

because 2 some people pan soothes them or makes them feel better.

Answer 2

Cutting can serve a **long** list of quite different functions for people, so there is no single reason why people do it.

Probably the most common use is when people feel "overwhelmed".....when things seem simply too much, and they don't trust that "feeling their emotions" is going to bring the rapid relief they want. So they cut.....and by golly, they feel better.

Sometimes people "trance out" when they cut, and sometimes have no memory of the actual cutting itself.

People who cut for the relief....often times don't feel any pain....and so things can often go further than they might otherwise wish. Doing the ER is not what they want, but sometimes it gets to that without them intending it to.

Of course cutting as a way of dealing with the anxiety associated with various issues does nothing at all to solve the underlying problem itself, but since it works......it can develop into a real habit for people who use it to release tension or anxiety. Some people get to where they cut several times a day, often even when they begin to anticipate that something stressful might happen.

Another use for cutting is to assure the person that they are indeed alive, and a part of the world. The pain and the seeing of the blood is the thing that is reassuring.

Other people use it almost like tattoos. To commemorate something that feels very emotionally important to them.

Using cutting specifically to "attract attention" is probably not all that common, but there is no doubt that it can indeed gain the attention of otherwise clueless parents. But when used specifically for that reason......it's not quite the same as the above reasons, which are mostly psychological.

In the end....it's better to "use words" to deal with things than to "use actions" like cutting.

If you use words......you are forced to get at what the deeper issues may be.

If you "use actions"......it's more like going out and getting drunk.

You may indeed feel better, but you have not done a thing to deal with what the core issues might be.

Bob J.

Answer 3

Self Mutilation is a form of mental disorder falling under the personality disorders. It is similar, but not the same as parasuicide. The intent of this act is twofold.

First, people who do it feel release in pain, as if the physical pain drowns out the emotional pain.

Second, more along the lines of the parasuicide term, it's a way to show the world that one is depressed. A suicide like attempt is often a cry for help, even if the intent is not death.

Common forms of this mutilation are cuts to the arms and legs, pucture wounds, and blunt trauma.

As one who has seen this disease from close up, I can tell you it is very serious and very disturbing.

Answer 4

Depression hurts bad, but not in a bleeding kind of way. It feels natural to see yourself bleed from your pain. You think if you have scars, people will notice that you are hurting.
But it's stupid to do that. Don't cut - it doesn't make you feel better at all. It makes you feel worse. Don't do it.

There is no their selves. The word is themselves.

Answer 5

I have done this. Its a way to put something physical to the pain I feel emotionally, and to punish myself for feeling such emotional pain for no good reason.
I sometimes feel great emotional pain and I don't even know why, then it just goes away later for no reason either. Don't ever tell someone to just get a grip, because many times they cannot even point to the cause of they're emotional pain. Cutting gives something to point to.

Answer 6

1) Because they want to forgot why they are depressed so they focus on physical pain.
2) Because, in some cases, physical pain feels better than emotional pain.
3) Because they want to feel as bad (or worse) on the outside as they do on the outside.
4) Because they think that since other people hurt them, they aren't worth anything so they think it would only make sense to hurt themselve like everyone else does.
5) Because they hate themselves so much that they cannot bear to see themselves not in pain.

Answer 7

i used to do this when i was about 14 or 15. my rationale, at the time, was that i hurt really really bad inside, and thought that hurting myself on the outside might distract me. thing is, it did! and it gave me some cool scars that will always remind me that it did at one time feel worse than it does at any given "right now"... not that i recommend this as therapy, but as long as you're not hitting a vein or something, just superficial cutting, i don't really see a big problem if it helps you feel better. we all have different ways of dealing with things

Answer 8

Well when I use to cut my self it was like the cut was the pain I was going thur. The blood was the pain leaving the scabbing was the pain healing. And the scar meant the pain was gone.

Answer 9

It is a way for the world to visibly see their suffering. Tears don't get the point across, to the unfeeling, so cutting oneself and bleeding is a graphic manner in which to gain the attention and acknowledgement that otherwise would be lacking.

Answer 10

the pain of depression is so unbarable that they don't know who to talk to or what to do that they believe cutting thierselves is a way to relieve the pain and make thierselves feel better but all it is is a cry for help because they don't know how to ask for help and they seriusly need help and attention that they are lacking

Answer 11

it depends on the situation. not all people that r depressed are cutters. sometimes when you cant hhandle your emotional pain you cut yourself to not think of the pain in your mind and then you can focus on the pain in your flesh. its just away some people (like me) handle anger pain emotions and problems.