About those that Cut...?

Question

I have my own opinions about cutting because I have had 2 friends that have done it. I will not say mine. But what are your opinions on this serious issue?

Answer 1

Being an ex cutter myself i will have to say that i think it is a serious problem, that needs to be addressed, and most cutters need to be in somekind of therapy so they can find healthier copeing skills. Casue cutters know that while cutting is used to get a releif from what ever pain they are feeling . That it get so they have to cut more and more, and the release last for shorter periods of times. I believe that this is becoming a real problem amoung the very young too, and that they should seek help for it as soon as possiable.

Answer 2

Cutting is a way to deal with emotions that you can't deal with on your own. Basically, you transfer emotional pain to physical pain... or else the physical pain, or the sight of the injury, distracts you away from the emotional pain. Some people also use it to stop them from dissociating--a weird, floaty feeling you get when your brain kind of disconnects from the physical world. (Most people dissociate when they daydream; but when it happens when you don't want it to, it can be scary.)

Most people who cut feel quite ashamed about it, and keep it secret; but every once in a while, someone (usually with borderline personality disorder) will use public self-injury to ask for help. Such SI should not be ignored, because someone desperate enough to use such a method of attention-getting really does need the attention (i.e., help) they are asking for, however clumsily.

The common idea that people cut for attention is false. I estimate that only about one in twenty people who cut do so for attention; these are usually either teenagers in the "goth" subculture or sufferers of BPD.

Cutting isn't a good idea because it doesn't deal with the original problem--it's a temporary solution. You can deal with the emotions for twenty minutes by cutting; but they'll come back, and whatever caused them hasn't been dealt with.

However, people really overreact when someone's cutting. They react much more to self-injury than to the more dangerous things that person could be doing--drinking, doing drugs, driving fast, having sex--which are just as commonly used to mask troubling emotions.

Don't get me wrong; cutting isn't the right way to deal with stuff; but it also isn't an indicator that the person has gone horribly insane somehow. Most people who cut are suffering from depression and/or anxiety; and these are so common that about 60% of the American population will suffer from them during their lifetimes. Both problems are relatively easy to deal with, as mental illnesses go, though they sure aren't any fun for the person who has them.

Cutting also isn't a suicide attempt, or "practice" for a suicide attempt--that's another common misconception. People who self-injure are at a higher risk of suicide than the general population; but it's the same risk that anyone with depression or anxiety has.

Usually, someone who cuts and then attempts or commits suicide does not use cutting as a method for suicide; in fact, many people who use SI say that it is a way of dealing with their emotions so that they do not have to try suicide; or even a way of keeping suicidal thoughts out of their minds.

All in all, yes; someone who cuts does need help. However, it's not the cutting that's the main issue--it's the underlying emotions, the depression or anxiety or high stress level. You can stop cutting, and your problems won't get any better--in fact, if you don't learn good, replacement coping techniques, you may be worse off.

Think about it: If cutting didn't work, people wouldn't do it. So obviously it serves some purpose--inefficiently, yes; but it's there for a reason.

Instead of focusing on stopping self-injury, someone who cuts should learn why they do so, what triggers it, and then learn alternative methods of dealing with the things that cause them to need such a painful way of coping. Once other methods of coping are learned, then the self-injury (which has probably decreased during the learning process anyhow) can be decreased and eventually stopped, just like any other bad habit.

Answer 3

I think it is the same as any other addiction or disorder. The same as people who overeat, anorexics, drug addicts or any other self abusive activity/habit. It is serious, they all are! But you shouldn't treat people that do it like they have a mental problem because they DON'T! It's just their way of attempting to deal with their problems and express their control. Of course they should get help, but you can not force someone to change. They have to truly want to. Talking to counselors can be helpful and is probably their best bet. But if they feel like they are being judged than they are talking to the wrong person and should go to someone else. It is completely possible to conquer this problem.

Answer 4

I think it's tragic and heartbreaking. it makes me angry with all the **** in the world that is always there hurting people. it furstrates and confuses me that there so much pain and not much that can be done. It leaves me questioning why, why is there so much pain, why do the people that least deserve it suffer. Why do things go so horribly wrong that people need to resort to cutting as a coping method. it just makes me sad and it makes me feel completley an utterly helpless and unable to take away all their suffering.

Answer 5

I think that people who cut feel like they have little or no self worth and therefore it doesn't matter (in their eyes) if they beat themselves up or cut themselves. It's really quite sad because they are worth SO MUCH more than they think, especially to their Heavenly Father who loves them so much. Personally, I can't see myself doing that even if I did feel that way about myself cuz I don't like blood or whatever. But it grieves me when I hear of people doing that to themselves.