Is It Normal For A Teen To Cut?

Question

and if not, why? and if it's so bad, why? and do you fully understand why? not cause they're emo!

yeah i mean cut themselves.

Answer 1

Please take what I am going to say not as a scolding, but as someone who went through similar actions and feelings when they were that age, and even still a little bit - It is not normal for teens to cut. The media is blowing it out of proportion and making the concept popular, but it is no more normal now than it ever was. Self mutilitation is disturbing and indicative of problems such as depression. I understand you are emo - I am too. At 27- yes. I think I have always been emo, but was not well sorted out enough to show it until I was about 23. I will not say I have never contemplated what you discuss, but I keep it in check by dealing with my problems in other ways.

Cutting is not normal, and not ok, and can, without you realizing it, lead to psychological problems and further depression. Try to fight that. You can be so very emo and not cut!!

Answer 2

In my answer when I say 'You' I don't mean the author of the question but just whoever does do this.

Is it normal?
No
Why?
Because you are alive, and to damage yourself means there is a problem with your survival capabilities.
Why is it bad?
It isn't neccesarily bad...unless you consider being the center of humiliation from people bad, and if you cut a vein that would suck. And your family will probably go nutz!
Do I understand why?
Yes, or at least I think I do. You are so emotional that you destract your emotional pain with physical pain to kind of ease out the intensity.
What should you do?
You are too much of a recessive weakling and you cannot handle your problems. Although many would disagree, becoming more aggressive and tough (emotionally, maybe physically because it increases testosterone) would help. It can be solved but only if the person is willing.
Does it mean you might commit suicide?
I think this could vary depending on the person.

I hope this helps and gives you an interesting perspective from a fellow emotionless person trying to understand the emotional.

Answer 3

Um, 'normal' is a bad word.
Other than that, umm, masochistic tendancy's which can lead to depression and sado-masochistic relationships with others arent that fun. So- cutting, while unfortunetly some people use as a 'release' from extream emotion or even just for the pain, because they're afraid of being numb- or because nothing feels real... I think it isn't a good thing for a teenager to cut. A friend of mine used to do it pretty heavily (I also did it for a short amount of time.)
It dosent only hurt the cutter, it really worries their close friends and family. So while nomal is a term that should be avoided in almost every situation, its not a posotive way of expressing how you feel, or making yourself feel.
Just look at the underdeveloped countries with millions upon millions of startving infants and toddlers and whatever problems you may have seem kind of- trivial compared to that. Or talk to somebody- a friend, a family member who you can get along with and let them know how you are feeling because being able to be heard, accepted and loved (even if they don't understand.) is a extreamly powerful way to avoid allowing emotions to bottle up and backlash on you. Also, expressing yourself (drawing, painting, music, writing) is another good way to get all of those feelings out without hurting yourself.

Answer 4

It is not normal for a teen to cut because when then do it means they need something and they are not getting it. If you get them to a doctor to see if they have Borderline Personality Disorder, which I have and have had since I was 6 it is not bad because then something can be done about it before it gets too bad. Sometimes you do not fully understand because we, as adults, think aobout how we acted when we were teens. We often did not do that. A lot of it is because of emotional problems that teens can not talk about to family, but maybe they can find a good support group to go to of people who do the same thing. There is a DBT program that helped me stop cutting myself. Also seeing the scares on my arms stopped.

So, what you need todo is get the teen to a specialist who can treat the disorder and help them stop. In reality we can watch our teens every second of the day.

Answer 5

Until the last 3 years or so I have been self destructive. I was born into a pretty extreme enviornment and used to bang my head to bruise it in the crib. Apparently I tried to blind myself at age 3. This was around the same age I renounced the fallacy of "God" and incidentally also the age I learned to read. By age 6 I was deliberately getting myself into accidents and slicing with razor blades.

I have always had a fascination with pain. Cutting is not necessarily a gateway to suicide, nor is it usually for attention. But I do have ugly scars now and I have almost lost an arm to my blood sports.

Btw, mutilation and scarification are different. Many people throughout the world cut into themselves for a variety of reasons, while the word "mutilation" has negative connotations.

But from my experience, most people who cut start a lot later than I did (by at least ten years, really) and many are deeply depressed and are looking for ways to distract themselves.

Also, the people who refer to cutting as dumb or stupid obviously have never experienced mental pain severe enough to make physical pain look comfortable. I've had 4th degree burns and injuries severre enough to require hospitalization (not self inflicted) and they are nothing compared to some mental states. Pain of the body is nothing compared to pain of the mind. It's just, most people don't reach the same level of mental pain and because they have nothing to compare it to, inflicting physical pain seems pointless. They should be thankful they've never been so low... and for those who think those that inflict injuries on themselves do it on purpose, I'd like to remind them that most mammals, including lab monkeys and abused dogs and cats, will injure themselves if they are under enough stress.

Is it good or bad? It's not black or white. I don't regret my past. It made me who I am. My scars are large and I have to wear long sleeves in the heat or risk being stared at. That's a pain. But at the time I did what I had to to survive. What helped me the most was moving out, getting on meds and forgetting about my family. Also, getting away from religion and modern culture and my introduction into existential nihilism helped pull a lot of stuff together and helped reduce the need until it became unnecessary.

Answer 6

It is not normal for anyone to cut, it is actually an unhealthy behavior (and not just phsyically). I've had problems with cutting for over 6 years, although I have managed to become more stable. Self-mutilation is a sad problem; I cut myself when I was upset about things or as a form of punishment. My father was abusive in my childhood, and when he got help and stopped the abuse, I felt lost and unloved. The abuse had to come from somewhere, and I started cutting myself to create the punishment I thought I deserved. What cutting does, is create a temporary distraction or feeling of self-fulfillment instead of dealing with the problems and handling them. It is a 'coping-mechanism,' that works, but not efficiently. Really, you are dealing with the emotion, and not the situation that caused the emotion, or the basic underlying reason why the situation was difficult.
Good luck, if you have this problem, or to whomever you know who does. It isn't easy.

Answer 7

Well, normal or not, 'normal' can sometimes be a very subjective word. People who have some difficulties on the emotional well being , doesn't mean they are not normal.

Is it HEALTY for a person to cut him or herself? NO, because they are hurting themselves.
If it's so bad, why? Because the action (cutting) is 'negatively' affecting ones health (emotional and physical)

And it's not healthy for people of ANY AGE to cut themselves.

Why? sorry, I don't know, but I come up with several 'guess' answer of why. But then, they are just my guess, may not be accurate.

Answer 8

Normal, No.
Becoming more popular, Yes. (I blame the media)
If it keeps gaining attention (like it has) more teens will start to do it.
Eventually so much so that it will become normal, and almost overlooked as problem (which it is starting to become)

It is considered "bad" because it is playing along the lines of death. (And normally death is bad, and shouldn't be messed with)
Nobody wants their loved ones to ever die (EVER)

It is hard to imagine why else teens would want to cut themselves unless they were in some emotional destress.
Though there was once a time I wanted to cut long slashes in my arms, because I thought the scars would look cool.
(I never did though, I could die doing that)

Answer 9

Yes I do. Some do it for attention. It seems to be farely common. Others do it because it releases endorfins which make you happy. Others do it because they think they have no hope. Though it may feel good, it is not good for you. It is a serious psychological problem that involves self mutilation and self mutilators need help. You can read about self mutilation at some of the links below. The other links are resources for help.

Answer 10

I used to cut back myself at the same time as i became a youngster. Now i'm 22 and that i graduated very last would with a level in baby psychology and regrettably, reducing occurs plenty between childrens besides the undeniable fact that it's not excellent. there are approaches to resolve issues except to cut back and that i merely choose extra childrens would attain out for help. because after I see the scars on my fingers, it hurts me plenty that i became dealing with a lot that I self mutilated myself. you want to achieve out for help and also you are able to digital mail me in case you want.