What is the theory behind "cutting".?

Answer 1

You mean cutting yourself? Well for someone who is in a lot of pain, cutting yourself and making it hurt on the outside helps the pain that is inside. It's hard if not impossible to understand if you've never done it yourself, but it just helps you to cope.

Nobody does it for "attention". If they're doing it for attention then that's something totally different than real cutting, which is when you cut to relieve pain. People who cut will usually do anything to keep others from finding out. I kept it a secret for years, until the day I went too far and accidentally hit a vein.

And it doesn't mean you're crazy. It just means you have a different way of dealing with all the terrible things you are going through, all the pain that you keep inside and don't know how else to express it or get it all out. It's unfortunately, the only thing you have that helps.

Answer 2

So many people responded I feel my answer is going to be burried.

I think it is a stress reliever, but not for the cliché reasons given above. Have you ever been hurt (such as bumped your head) while you were emotionally upset? If so, did it make you feel better? Or, just imagine undergoing real physical pain when you're emotional. It probably doesn't look too relieving!

I think it's the pretense of self-harm that relieves stress. Most cutters cut superficial cuts on not-so-delicate parts of the body like the forearms or legs --- cuts that just aren't painful.

Really, it's simply empowering and not unlike walking on hot coals (which isn't painful either).

Answer 3

I actually had a problem with this years ago. I started doing it at age 15 and I would always do it if I had done something wrong and needed to be hurt to relieve myself from my own guilt. After years of doing it I put it together that when I was 15 my mother stopped spanking me and I grew up thinking that being physically harmed was the only way to fix the bad thing that I had done. I still catch my self thinking I need to be hurt when I mess up but it has been about 2 1/2 years since I have cut myself and I am 25 now.

Answer 4

Here are some excerpts from previous similar questions that I've answered that you may find helpful:

There are multiple reasons why people self-mutilate and each case needs to be explored individually. The most common reason is that it occurs in order 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. Some people, particularly those who are in abusive situations, injure themselves as a way to exert control over when and how the pain is experienced. 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

The belief is that there is so much mental pain going on that the person cuts themselves because the pain of cutting distracts them from or releases temporarily the mental pain.

Answer 6

I know people that have cut and a lot of them did to try to release their pain. But it doesn't make things better. And if you are thinking about cutting, please don't. It makes thinks worse. You might feel better when you are doing it, but in the long run it will be worse.

Answer 7

Disassociation is what I have heard.

The idea of replacing one pain with another. I have heard of people being tortured hurting themselves to relieve the pain of the torture.

Sometimes people have pain in their lives that they want to forget. By cutting or burning themselves they can replace that first pain with a pain that they can control.

Answer 8

I'm not sure, but i think that people who cut do so because it's easier to deal with physical pain than it is emotional pain. It becomes an addiction...just like an alcoholic needs to drink to deal with emotional pain.

I think this is something that we still need to research and study because we don't have all the answers yet.

Answer 9

most ppl they cut there self bc it takes all of the pain away and it relieves them from what ever is happening at the time

Answer 10

some cut because they feel they deserve the pain and disfigurement
some do it to gain attention
and some do it because they are psychotic and know no better