Why do people feel the need to cut themselves with razors?

Question

Do they just do it for attention?

Answer 1

It's not just for attention.

I started cutting about 3 years ago, during my junior year of high school. I haven't cut in about 6 days, and I'm not planning on doing it again (but then, I wasn't planning on doing it again 6 days ago, either). I'm not sure that I can explain exactly why I cut because I'm not always sure I know why I do it, and it's not always for the same reason, but I'll try...

A lot of the time when I cut myself it's because of something silly that I said or did that I was embarased about, something that I'm sure no one else who was there even remembers, but I'll get so angry at myself that the only way to let it go is to hurt myself. It's kind of like a punishment that then once I've done that I don't have to think about whatever it was anymore. Of course, whatever was bothering me always ends up coming back, but it does work for a while.

Other times I just get so frustrated or overwhelmed or angry, and I don't even know why that makes me want to cut myself, but I end up doing it for some reason.

Some of the time when I was younger it was basically for attention, even though no one ever saw the cuts. When I'd cut myself, I'd want so much for someone to see it, and I don't even know exactly what I wanted them to do, I just wanted someone, some adult in my life, to notice that something was wrong. That definitely never worked, though, because the next day I'd wake up and put on a long sleeve shirt to make sure that no one could see the cuts.

That doesn't even come close to explaining why I do it, but that's about as much of it as I could figure out how to say.

There are lots of other reasons that people cut themselves that are differnet than why I do it. Some people do it to feel something, because they're so numb from past traumas. Other people do it to distract themselves from the emotional pain they feel, just like if you stub your toe and the slam your finger in the door you forget that your toe hurts. So people (particularly survivors of sexual abuse) do it to make their bodies less attractive to potential predators. For other people it's about control - they feel like they have no control over their lives, and cutting gives them control over their body, and their experience of physical pain. It can also be a way of proving to themself that they're strong enough to do it. Sometimes it is to get attention, particularly among kids who may not be getting much attention at home (maybe because their parents are going through a divorce, a sibling is seriously ill, or their primary caregiver is abusing drugs or alcohol). There are some number of people who cut themselves just to fit in with the "emo" crowd, but these people definitely represent the minority of cutters. The vast majority of the time, there's something behind it other than that the person thinks it's just a cool or fun thing to do.

Answer 2

There are so many reasons why people self harm themselves.
For me, it is to escape my emotional pain. I have problems dealing with many emotions such as sadness and anger. When I cut myself then my mind focuses on the blood and the sight of my own blood has a calming effect on me.
I used to cut to punish myself as well. If I had a bad grade or my mother would yell at me then out came the razor and my body would bleed.
There are some people who do it for attention, but that is rare.
Here is a site that will help explain why people cut themselves.

Answer 3

Some people cut out of anger. Anger at themselves, anger at others.They want to feel pain. They want to release the pain. Some are doing it because a group of kids do that and they want to be part of the crowd. My son would cut himself and he started because other kids in the group he hung around with were doing it. His girlfriend told him that if he loved her he would do it with her. Then it became habit for him and when this girl broke up with him he cut himself so bad it looked like Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street got ahold of him. He continued for years after...He is in his 30's now and he still does it. He has had to have stitches at times.

Answer 4

There are multiple reasons why people self-mutilate and each case needs to be explored individually. The most common reason is that it occurs to induce a dissociative state and assists people who have been traumatized with achieving a state of emotional numbness and you hear it described as soothing for them. The physiological basis for it stems from the release of endorphins-the brain's natural painkillers-which function much like opiates and dull the experience of emotional pain. Other reasons include the opposite rationale-people who feel numb emotionally and who have shut down will self-mutilate in order to feel something and remember they are alive. Others do it for self-punishment and feel relief from guilt or shame and see the letting of blood as a way to purge themselves of guilt. It may be a way of re-enacting and attempting to master early traumatic experiences. This often happens during a dissociative state where people are recalling experiences which were traumatizing and they feel a need to punish/purge themselves for what they often mistakenly believe they have done wrong. There are also folks who do it as a way to cope with unrelenting chronic physical pain from other sources as it creates an alternative pain that distracts them from the chronic pain (think of the principle behind how a TENS unit works). In more rare instances it can be a response to psychotic states where folks are responding to command hallucinations or believe they are purging themselves from some evil inside them. There are other less common reasons, depending on the form of self-mutilation (eye enucleation, castration, etc.) that tend to be symbolic in nature. But most commonly it is done in response to increased feelings of tension with which the individual cannot cope and it becomes a way for them to dissociate their emotional pain and achieve an emotional numbing. The goal of treatment is to fully understand the reasons that sustain the behavior and in the latter case (the most common) to help people develop affect tolerance and the ability to cope with and soothe their emotional pain in healthier ways.

Answer 5

I can tell you from experience that it has nothing to do with just wanting attention. Unless you have become so stressed out to cut yourself it is hard to understand why someone would do it. It is more of a way to release stress and internal frustration, although be it a harmful and ultimately unsuccessful stress reliever.

Answer 6

Like the song says, feeling pain is better than feeling nothing at all. I'm pretty sure its a pschological need associated with self-loathing and wanting to hurt oneself physically to match the emotional pain they feel.

Answer 7

I think they do it because it leaves some pretty cool looking scars.

Answer 8

Because they hear voices, redrum.

Answer 9

because satan tells them to.