what is the purpsoe of people cutting themselves?

Question

i just think it is stupid

Answer 1

The need to feel - once a person reaches a threshold of emotional turmoil (real or not) their physical sensitivity seems to decrease so they cut in order to feel something - pain is primal and very hard to suppress.

It is a very dangerous problem that requires real help or the "cutter" can wind up with any number of physical problems and in extreme cases even dead.

Answer 2

There are lots of reasons that people self-harm. For me it was a failed suicide attempt at age 13 that made me realize that the pain was all I needed to feel better. I think self-harm has many angles to it, it's rather complex. For me I cut to release negative emotions that I wasn't allowed to express. Then it became a way to punish myself, I hated myself so much and felt like my parents hated me too. I think also I was doing it to try to get some attention, not in the way of "ooh, I'm special, I'm a cutter!" but I wanted my parents to look at me and realize how much I needed help, which never did happen. Then the cutting became more of an addiction. I had used it for so long to cope with my negative emotions that I didn't know what else to do. After a while I also starting thinking that I would never let anyone hurt me, that my cutting made me stronger. Of course this wasn't true at all. I started counseling when I was 18, much to my parents dismay (even though it was ordered by the doctor because I had attempted suicide again). I went through several counselors over the years and after about 5 years, I finally found one that I really liked. I had counselors who would tell me not to cut because I had such pretty arms and so on, but I didn't care about the scars. I thought that they represented my journey and what I had been through. After all, I believe that cutting kept me alive. If I hadn't turned to it I probably would have attempted suicide multiple times and I'm sure I would have succeeded. I have Bipolar 2, and self-harm is actually a symptom of this. With the mania stages a person can feel so much overwhelming anxiety, agitation and anger that they don't know what to do. I certainly went through this all the time, and cutting relieved it. I literally would feel like I was in so much emotional pain that if I didn't do something to cause physical pain, than I would explode. I am on a mood stabilizer which has helped tremendously. I rarely suffer from hypomanic episodes anymore and when I do they are manageable. Stopping cutting was hard though because it had become such a habit. Only with my husband's support was I able to do this. I think that cutting and self-harm has started to be seen as a trend amongst young people, or emos. I'm not sure why this is, I'm not part of that culture so I don't know how that got started. It's sad though, if people are thinking it is cool. It is very serious and a cry for help. When a person does it to be cool, yes, it is stupid. But for the most part it is a coping mechanism that someone adopts because they don't know what else to do, and then it becomes a habit and possibly an addiction. I hope that people will be less quick to judge this serious problem and will research it instead. Lots of young people need help and don't need people being critical of them for choices they are making just to survive day to day. I know, I've been there.

Answer 3

It's a symptom. Most often, it's a symptom of a person who feels out of control. Cutting is one thing that they can control. There are other kinds of control issues that can be worked.

The movie Secretary is about a cutter who obtains control over herself by coming out as a sexual submissive. This is not fantasy. While a submissive is placed in physical restraints while variously "horribly delightful" things are done to the submissive, it is the submissive who, under the traditional terms of the "Scene," is in complete control.

The point is that cutting reflects being out of control mixed with a good dose of self-loathing. S&M can actually be therapeutic in such a case.

It's not stupid; it's pathological; it can be redirected and turned into something positive, though the cutter will never be quite normal.

Who wants to be normal, anyway?

Answer 4

Its hard to understand for someone who doesnt do it...but heres the easier way to understand it. Its a physical release for emotional pain and turmoil...its very similar to crying in a way...just a little more destructive. The reason people do it is lack of control, the need of control, anger, depression, extreem emotional pain, and yes, a cry for help. It really depends on the person and the situation. A cutter who does it in private, who does it in places not easily visable is doing it for their own reasons, for their own pain. Someone who cuts on visable places and then tries to cover it up is a cry for help in many ways, but an indirect one. They want someone to notice their pain, and ask whats wrong. Often times the reply is anger, because they dont understand why people didnt see it a long time ago, and why they had to hurt themselves before someone took notice of their pain. But again, every persons situation is different, each persons pain is their own. But it all comes down to emotional pain, and the need to release it, and cutting being the only way to satisfy that need if only for a moment, altho not in a healthy way.

Answer 5

I always wondered this too. I found the answer while I was working in a very stressful situation. I accidently ripped my arm open on a piece of wire. I noticed an immediate relief in the stress level I was feeling. It's not something I'd do on purpose but if that's what they feel when they cut, I can at least understand why they'd do it.

Answer 6

I can't really give you a professional answer, but when I was a young teenager I used to cut myself. That time period it still very much a big blur to me, I suffered a severe depression. I do remember feeling a release when I did it. Somehow it made my emotional pain feel lessened. It seems silly and like you said, stupid. But my mind wasn't working the way a normal person's does when I was in that depression. Obviously, I would never do it today. But if you know someone who does it please don't ridicule them or tell them they're stupid, just try to help them get professional help.

Answer 7

Some people feel like the only feeling left in thier bodies is pain, and that feeling somthing is better than feeling nothing at all.
Self-mutilation is a serious subject and requires immediate attention.

Answer 8

Well some people think that its the only pain that they can control. Some people think that since they hang out with the people who are actually troubled that they should do it too. In my opinion its kind of like drugs. Its become so popular now, that not many people have a good reason for doing it, other than they think its cool. Anyway, I agree, its stupid.

Answer 9

ppl cut for different reasons... cutting to feel control over something in their lives, cutting to feel pain and know that they're alive, cutting to relieve stress and emotional pain... there are many different reasons and all unique to the person cutting or any other self-harm

Answer 10

It releases tension and is a pain that the person has control over, instead of all the pain that happens out of their control.