why do people cut themselves?

Answer 1

Because their Crazy!

Answer 2

Self mutilation is a way to distract themselves from emotional pain. The physical pain of cutting replaces emotional hurt and becomes a defense mechanism. It's also a dysfunctional way for people to self punish when they feel guilt about past things. Very common in abuse victims (especially sexual abuse) who have the misguided idea that they did something to cause the abuse.

However there are times when people cut for no other reason than they saw the attention it got someone else and they want the same ind of attention. Very narcisistc people often cut or self mutilate in other ways for that reason.

Answer 3

Here's part of the answer from a great website listed in the resources area below:
Why does self-injury make some people feel better?

It reduces physiological and psychological tension rapidly.
Studies have suggested that when people who self-injure get emotionally overwhelmed, an act of self-harm brings their levels of psychological and physiological tension and arousal back to a bearable baseline level almost immediately. In other words, they feel a strong uncomfortable emotion, don't know how to handle it (indeed, often do not have a name for it), and know that hurting themselves will reduce the emotional discomfort extremely quickly. They may still feel bad (or not), but they don't have that panicky jittery trapped feeling; it's a calm bad feeling.

Some people never get a chance to learn how to cope effectively.
One factor common to most people who self-injure, whether they were abused or not, is invalidation. They were taught at any early age that their interpretations of and feelings about the things around them were bad and wrong. They learned that certain feelings weren't allowed. In abusive homes, they may have been severely punished for expressing certain thoughts and feelings. At the same time, they had no good role models for coping. You can't learn to cope effectively with distress unless you grow up around people who are coping effectively with distress. Although a history of abuse is common about self-injurers, not everyone who self-injures was abused. Sometimes invalidation and lack of role models for coping are enough, especially if the person's brain chemistry has already primed them for choosing this sort of coping.

Problems with neurotransmitters may play a role.
Just as it's suspected that the way the brain uses serotonin may play a role in depression, so scientists think that problems in the serotonin system may predispose some people to self-injury by making them tend to be more aggressive and impulsive than most people. This tendency toward impulsive aggression, combined with a belief that their feelings are bad or wrong, can lead to the aggression being turned on the self. Of course, once this happens, the person harming himself learns that self-injury reduces his level of distress, and the cycle begins. Some researchers theorize that a desire to release endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, is involved.

Answer 4

Cutting has three main causes.

The first cause is a desire to self-destroy. Often, depression also involves an intense self-hatred. This is very common in those with Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

The second cause is for the pain high. Damage to the body creates opiates and a "high." Some people get addicted to that high, especially those that are in a lot of stress.

The third cause is for attention. This is much assumed, but there are those who do it for the attention.

Answer 5

People cut themselves to feel the pain that they are going through, but cannot feel the emotional pain. I suspect( because I am not a psychologist) that they do this to feel and it relieves them. I t is very dangerous and if you are just asking then you can ask questions on the goggle or any search engine. If you are contemplating this seek a counselor real soon.

Answer 6

Although this particular hobby has never really interested me, I do believe that the main reason is to feel.

The other aspects of reality appear to close in on them, specifically things that are emotional, and they have to center themselves in reality. The true physical pain of cutting brings them to the front of reality, to the present, pushing all other aspects of reality aside.

It's like the old adage about hurting your foot if you've got a headache, because then you won't focus on the head pain, instead now focusing on the foot pain.

Love as always,

Sebastian

Answer 7

so they can have a sense of being able to fell something even if that means doing painful things to themselves becuase most people have been through so much they are numb to the world and inflicting pain upon themselve's brings them back to reality in a weird way

Answer 8

b/c they are severely depressed,they hurt,they like pain, so they cut themselves to feel good, b/c they can control the cutting as much as they want to b/c they like it

Answer 9

they r not crazy, they r not looking for attention, actually they feel pain more than they can handle, and they find cutting themselves a temporary escape from that pain that they're feeling.
"u bleed to know you're alive"
so never judge anyone before you understand him/her.

Answer 10

I always think it is a person that needs attention...from parents friends or whoever might give them attention. I think they should seek the help of a social worker or school counselor.

Answer 11

A friend of mine does and she says it alleviates the emotional pain she has by causing a greater pain.