how do you stop cutting when you'v been cutting for7 years?

Answer 1

Begin to write down all the cutting situations you can remember. Describe briefly what happened just before and how you felt. Look for a pattern. Think about changing the pattern. It might be as simple as walk out the door to Starbucks for coffee rather than returning to your private cutting place. Throw out the cutting implements to force you to stop and think. Go to the self-help section of a bookstore or library and read about it.

Do the above with a counselor if you like.

Answer 2

I would say you need to find a more healthy way to release your stress. You also need to sit and look at your situation from a critical point of view. Think of yourself as a 'normal' person. What would you tell yourself? I think a lot of problems with things such as this can be helped by just sitting and thinking about the problem. Heck, talk to yourself if you need to. If you don't feel like you can talk to someone else, it's the next best thing if not the best. Listen to yourself. Do this at a time when you are calm. Don't do it when you're cutting yourself. That may just make things worse. Just sit aside some time everyday to think things over. You will probably find you can work out a lot of your problems yourself in better ways than cutting. Maybe when you feel like cutting get a pen and mark the cut on you. Try that. It sounds dumb, but I think it would help if you could see yourself as being 'cut' without the actual cutting.

Answer 3

I've been doing it for a long time (much longer than you). Counselling, therapy, medication, hospitalisation, self-help books & groups - I've tried it all.
First, you have to really want to stop. Second, you have to sit down with pen & paper & write down all the situations & how you were feeling at the time when you either wanted to cut or did so. You need to do this so you can work your way through the feelings & emotions that make you do this. Thirdly, you have to get some kind of help, you can't do it alone. Professional is best, but you have to trust them & building trust is a slow process (I know), but getting well is not going to happen overnight either.
Finally, do not think of yourself as a freak or some other kind of lowlife because you cut - you have a treatable illness & in time you will overcome it. Good luck & best wishes for your future.

Answer 4

I haven't cut in a year, and - before that - I had cut myself for five years, so it wasn't quite 7 years, but close. It CAN be done. Here are a few tips that I used to stop cutting:

rst of all, keeping your mind off wanting to cut is the main thing you want to do. Which is waaayy easier said [typed?] than done, I know. Try listening to music, watching a movie you KNOW will keep your mind interested [which is actually harder than it sounds], playing games online [Sudoko always keeps my mind interested and its everywhere online], or - and this was the best one for me - exercising.

Not only does exercising keep you busy, but it gets you in shape and is good for you and all that - AND it releases the same endorphines that are released when you cut, so its vaguely the same feeling. Just be careful not to overexercise - you can fall into a whole new set of problems.

Another thing that helped me was drawing on myself with markers when I was really upset. It sounds kind of corny, but it did help a few times. Most people suggest doing it with red markers, but I used black, so I'm guessing it doesn't matter much. Red is more 'realistic', I suppose. But its the same motion, so it helped. Slashing yourself with markers isn't quite as satisfying as doing it for real, but it helped kill the urge.

ALSO! Setting goals helped a lot. First they would be short - you know, 'okay, I will wait half an hour to do it'. Then, if I could do that, I would go longer, maybe two hours? This would go on and on until I hadn't done it for weeks and didn't want to mess up my record.

Some other people do things like snapping rubber bands on their wrists, holding ice in their hands until it hurt, etc etc. None of these things ever really helped me, but I'm sure there are many websites that list other ideas that might help you. Here's just one small one that I found quickly:
http://www.psyke.org/coping/alternatives_to_selfharm/

Good luck!

Answer 5

I cut for over 20 years and I've abstained mostly...I haven't in 11 months. I'm almost 30 and can finally wear short sleeves. It took alot of counselling to find the root problems as to why I did it, and understanding (good support base to help as I urged) and a desire to quit. If you don't want to stop, it'll be alot harder.

Answer 6

You have to learn new ways to deal with overwhelming emotions. It takes support and guidance from those who know what it's like. Isolation and shame are not good. Be open to the treatment you are receiving. And good luck.

Answer 7

I don't know I've been doing it for 15 years. I started counseling and it might help...try that.

Answer 8

call 1-800 dont cut

Answer 9

just say dont cut dont cut

Answer 10

Get help - fast.