What Inspires A Person To Cut Up Their Arm or Any Part Of Their Body?

Question

I have this friend, she been telling me lately about how depressed and how lonely and how much she just wishes she would die lately. Well Earlier this afternoon, while i was hanging out with her, i happened to notice some scars on her arm, and they looked pretty fresh, like they had just been made a day or 2 before. So i asked her what was the deal with that, and she said it was like some kind of release method, a way to get all her sadness and frustration out. a reason to cry without having to explain her emotions to anyone. that if someone was to ask her why she was crying, she just had to show her arm to them and they would realize, shes in pain. but what could possibly make a person go to such extremes? why could life seem so horrible when in fact, i look at her and i see her successful job, her wonderful husband, and her 2 baby girls. she has everything going for her, but yet, she lets the lil things bug her and takes it out on her arm, why? thats all im asking, is why would she??

Answer 1

There are a variety of reasons people will cut themselves. A lot of them say it releases the emotional pain by feeling a more intense physical pain. They would rather feel that way than worry about feeling sad about whatever else is bothering them. But it is a short term fix and they do it again and again. Some people do it as a cry for help. They know they need some kind of help but they don't know what to say. A lot of the times people who are really open about cutting themselves fall into this category. In a way them showing you what they have done themselves is a way of reaching out to you. To show you how they have felt. Maybe hoping you will help them or get someone who can help them. I had a friend who cut himself for many years and I never knew. He didn't want anyone to know and he hid it really well. In his case he suffered from a few minor mental problems and had really bad depression. He spent a while in a hospital and since then he has been a lot better. But then again, the way he was able to hide it for 4 years before, I never really know.

Answer 2

I used to do it because I felt I was filled with excess emotional energy and I had no outlet. As you know, cutting has become a more popular topic in the media lately and when I heard on the radio someone talking about how it was a terrible habit that people who were depressed or otherwise unhappy used to feel better, I thought, I may as well give it a try since nothing else is helping.

The feeling one gets after cutting is not euphoric, but more like the release one gets from letting out a scream or a good cry except when you cut yourself, you're not attracting attention (at least I wasn't, I did it for years and years and no one, not even my doctors knew until I quit). You're friend does this because she knows no other effective coping mechanisms. I think there is also an element of shame attached to it. Perhaps she is ashamed to be depressed, I certainly was.

You should encourage her to seek help for her depression and no, her children won't get taken from her for just cutting nor will she get locked up for cutting. It just doesn't happen unless the cuts are very deep and there is a reasonable fear she may kill herself doing it. Most people who cut do not need to worry about accidently cutting too deep. It's pretty hard to do!

Answer 3

Depression is something that most people don't really understand. This person needs professional help because her condition is not something she can just "get over". Depression is physically as well as emotionally painful and it can drive a person to be self destructive.

Answer 4

Self-injury (SI) or self-harm (SH) is deliberate injury inflicted by a person upon his or her own body without suicidal intent. Some scholars use more technical definitions related to specific aspects of this behaviour. These acts may be aimed at relieving otherwise unbearable emotions, sensations of unreality and numbness. It is listed in the DSM-IV-TR as a symptom of borderline personality disorder and is sometimes associated with mental illness, a history of trauma and abuse, eating disorders, or mental traits such as low self-esteem or perfectionism. There is a positive statistical correlation between self-injury and emotional abuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_injury

Self-Injury, also commonly known as self-harm; self-mutilation; self-abuse; and self inflicted violence.

Self-injury is defined as the deliberate harming or alteration of one's body tissue without the conscious intent to commit suicide.

Integral to this definition are several key concepts.

* Self-injury is an act done to the self.
* It is done by the self.
* It must include some type of physical violence.
* Self-injury is not undertaken with the intent to kill oneself.
* It is an intentional act.

http://www.crescentlife.com/psychissues/self-injury.htm

http://www.factbites.com/topics/self-injury

Answer 5

Because they enjoy the euphoria it brings them. By cutting, they're as you said, releasing their pain and sadness because they simply feel as if they don't have anyone out there that would listen to them.