If i am a cutter what should i do? I don't know that much about it.?

Question

Please don't be mean.....i can't deal with it.

Answer 1

Are you trying to stop? If so, congrats! That's a big first step to take =) Anyways...

First, you should research the topic so that you have an idea of what you are dealing with, with some tips on how to deal with it, tell others, and such. It might give you some insight to why you hurt yourself as well. A sight that gives a basic description is http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/selfinjury.cfm a good page with some links to other pages depending on what you need is http://teenadvice.about.com/od/cuttingbranding/ I would also suggest the site recoveryourlife.com it is a site of self harmers, either who are trying to stop, have stopped and trying to keep from going back, or have stopped and want to help others quite. It's got a forum and a chat room. It is a very good site because it doesn't glorify or condone cutting (Such as saying things like "Cutting is awesome" or "Do you know (celebrity name) cuts? that means its tight!" or posting pics on the site for others to comment on and such. That doesn't mean the members aren't understand or cruel or whatever. They want to stop the problem, instead of encouraging it).

A good thing to try is professional help. I got a counselor for my self harm issues, and he was understanding and helpful. Most councellors are not judgemental and do there best to help, though a few might not be able to help someone with self harm issues, just because they are not well trained in that area of psychology, but most are cool. He/she will help you uncover why you are hurting yourself, and try to stop the behavior. So i would suggest getting a counselor if possible, they can be a great help.

Another thing to do is to tell someone you love about this issue (if you haven't already). Self harming is a very hard thing to stop, much harder if you don't have someone helping you. Not trying to discourage you, it's just if you have someone helping and encouraging you along the way it is "easier" for you to quit. Tell someone you can trust and that won't judge you, and will listen to you. If you want to tell someone, here is a tip that will hopefully make it easier. (This is meant to be used in telling your parents, but it should work for anything really). You should write out a letter, explaining about the cutting, why you do it (if you know), some information about it (so that they can have an idea of what's going on), your point of view, etc... This allows you to get all of the things you want to get out out, so that you don't end up forgetting something if you tell someone straight forward. You can either give the letter to the person (or leave it somewhere they can find it), or use it as a guide to tell the person(s) directly.

Also, there are some tips to stop the urges to self harm. Here are a few:

*Draw in red pen on the area where you usually cut yourself. *just ignore it and move on. ALL urges will pass in time, you just have to distract yourself until they do
*Do something relaxing when you are stressed, take a warm bath, do a soduko, read a book, cross-stitch (that works for me) whatever makes you relax
*Write in a journal how you feel when you want to hurt yourself, get your feelings out
*Listen to music that either: 1. calms you down, makes you happy 2. music that talks about how you are feeling, like hurt, angry, etc... (be careful with this though, it could actually trigger you if you aren't careful)
*Talk to anyone, not nessecarily about the cutting, just call up a friend to distract yourself.
*Hit something (not yourself) like a pillow or something
*Pray (if you are religious)
*Just distract yourself in some way. The feelings will pass, you just need to give it time.

There are many more tips, but these are the ones i can think of off the top of my head. These are tips to deal with the feelings. Now some tips for the pain part.

*Hold ice cubes in your hand. It gives you the pain without causing any damage (some variants of this include adding red dye to the ice to make it look like blood, helps them get over the urge)
*Keep a rubber band on your wrist and snap it when you want to cut yourself, for some people the pain from that is enough (be careful with this also. Some people want more pain and it just triggers them)

These things help some because when you get hurt your body releases endorphines into the blood stream, and these feel good. This is the rush or calm feeling that comes after self harming, which often leads to addiction. So, getting hurt (with the rubber band or ice) you get the pain and the endorphine release without doing much damage at all.

Another thing that can be very helpful is finding a support group, like a chat room or something. If you want ot get a support group i suggest NOT going to a group where they think it is ok to hurt yourself. What i mean is, groups that glorify self harm and talk about how great it is, how cool it is, show off thier cuts, things like that. Find a group where the people understand, but they don't glorify it and want to help others stop. This i found to be very helpful, as they understand what you are going through and can help you with it, while the first type just encourages you to cut more and stuff. Like i said before i great site to check out is recoveryourlife.com. You should really give it a try.

If you need to talk, vent, or whatever, you get me at [e-mail], you can aim me at [e-mail] or msn me at [e-mail]. I hope all goes well with you, best of luck!

-sarah

Answer 2

I would say before anything else, see a counselor. A psychologist or a counselor. I would strongly advise against trying to work through it or figure it out yourself. While friends and relatives will have your best interests in mind, they are not professionals and are not best suited to dealing with your situation. If you don't have the money for a counselor, look up free clinics in your area. If you get to a point where your cutting is becoming dangerous, or if you're having a particularly bad episode, don't hesitate to go to your local emergency room. Even if you haven't harmed yourself physically, they are equipt to deal with your immediate emotional issues and they will be able to direct you to psychologists or counselors who will help you. Don't hesitate to get help if you are suffering. You don't deserve to live in pain.

Answer 3

It's not the kind of problem that is easily approached via reading books (or on the internet) or talking to others only. My best advice is that you seek evaluation and at least preliminary advice from a mental health professional, preferably a psychiatrist or psychologist. Only in person and via detailed evaluation can a situation like this be properly turned into useful advice for the person affected by it.

Answer 4

I would try and see what was the reason or trigger for why I cut myself. I would ask myself a lot of questions? Am I trying to cover up something? Do I feel ignored and want attention? What is my sense of self worth? Do I cut myself because I feel like I deserve to feel pain? Is there someone I could talk to about my feelings so that they could help me recognize a pattern of behavior?

In the end, what do you want to accomplish by cutting yourself?
Are your efforts successful?(Is it solving a problem?)

Answer 5

When you find yourself thinking about it or grabbing for a sharp cutting tool. Immediately put the object down and say "I refuse to mutilate my body in this manner." Find something constructive to do like paint, draw, or house work.

If you seem to like pain, just save plenty of money and start getting lots and lots of tattoos. Or try going to an acupuncturist once or twice a month.

Answer 6

The first thing you should do is talk to someone about it. The next thing you should do is try to figure out what about your life causes you to do it. For some people its when they dont feel they have control over things and for others its stress. Once you know why you do it you can work towards stopping it. But first and for most, you have to get help.

Answer 7

My daighter was and at times still is a cutter. as a mother I do not want to see my child hurt herself.H er arms are permanantly scarred from this. we went to counseling and got her help.It took her a long time to come to me with her problem.At first she did it as a way to control her rushing thoughts and it would then help her enuf to relax.then she did it because she was angre and didn"t get her way.then she did it as way to manipulate me and of course I would freak out .But with counseling she's become better adjusted and has learned to deal with stress and other problems.Please go to your mom or dad or a counselor.there are alot of kids who cut themselves and there is help if you'll seek it out.I will be thinking of you :)

Answer 8

talk to someone, i talked to my doctor, or should i say, he saw the cuts, and it turned out his daughter had gone through the same things. i can tell you exactly what to do for the cuts though, for the fresh ones, or any of them still with a scab, put neosporin on them, cover them with a telfa pad, and wrap them, that will reduce the scarring and help them heal faster, and for the ones that are already healed, use mederma, it is real expensive, but it works. good luck, and i hope everything gets better.

Answer 9

Well its just a twisted satisfaction. You might need to "re-wire" your brain, or change your perspective on life in order to get over a twisted satisfaction like this. I highly recommend going to see a counselor that WILL NOT put you on prescription drugs.
Just like they said back in the day. "Say no to drugs". This goes for prescription, as well as "illegal" drugs. Stay away from them, and please find a counselor that can help you.

Answer 10

http://www.bergen.org/AMST/pc/selfhurt/Statistics.html
http://www.emofree.com/articles/self-cutter.htm