READ ME!  is anyone who is on this site a CUTTER? AS IN SELF INJURY.......I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.?
480195
If you don't cut, please stop berating those who do or offering your two cents.  You have *no* idea.  People don't cut just to feel.  That might be one reason for one person but not the whole reason for everyone.  I have Bipolar Disorder.  I started cutting when I was 12 and continued to do so for about 15 years on and off.  When I went through a mixed episode, I just *had* to cut.  The intense emotions and anxiety were too much to handle and I had no other outlet at the time.  So, I took a razer blade and cut my arms and my legs.  It was so bad that I carried the stupid thing around with me through high school.\n\nI still get the urge when I'm really stressed out.  I do anything else I can possibly think of.  I read a book, I watch a movie, I go for a walk.  The thing I've found that works best is cleaning.  Yes, cleaning.  It's a brainless activity that helps you get energy out in a non-destructive manner.  I clean until I'm tired or until I feel better.  Just find *anything* else to do.\n\nIf you're still underage, talk to your parents.  If you can't do that, talk to you school counselor.  Anyone who can get you help.  It's not a matter of how deep is too deep.  It's a matter of finding someone to help yourself.\n\nPlease email me if you'd like.  I do understand.
795497
Being a cutter is a hard thing. I have been there,and I just recently found out that my girlfriend was a cutter. I use to cut all the time,for any reason I could find. Once a cutter,always a cutter. I still fight urges to this very day,and knowing that my girl was a cutter..really makes me worry even more now. If you are serious about this girl,then you need to make sure to watch what you say about her cutting. Little things can set her off. Just always be there when she has her moments,and when she does cut,don't sit there and lecture her..sit there and love her,and show her how much you care. Having someone be there for me is what made me want to stop,knowing that someone was always there when I needed to talk.
1029870
any girl who is "looking" for a real answer to their hurting questions, needs to look elsewhere.....this site is only for entertainment\n\ni see you just started here with YA.........welcome!..\ngive it a week, you will be shocked to see everything and if it can be typed ....it'll be printed...........just laugh at it and move on to next question
411457
I AM RECOVERING FROM A SUICIDE ATTEMPT FROM ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO.  THIS WAS NOT MY FIRST ATTEMPT.  PLEASE EMAIL ME, I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHARE LIFE STORIES WITH YOU.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE, KRISTEN.  LOOK AT ALL THE RESPONSES YOU'VE RECEIVED.  I DON'T THINK YOU WANT TO KILL YOURSELF, I THINK YOU ARE CYING OUT FOR HELP...THERE IS HELP, BUT YOU HAVE TO HELP YOURSELF FIRST AND THERE ARE OTHERS THERE TO HELP YOU GET HELP, GOT IT, GIRL?  Smile, sweetie :-)
334643
No you are not weird for doing this. There are, it seems, quite a few people on here who do. The reason most people self harm is because they haven't found a way to self sooth. Like when we were kids and had our favorite blankie or stuffed animal. Some where along the way we forgot how to sooth ourselves in a good way. I believe many people self harm because they lack assertiveness. Being able to tell people how you really feel without feeling guilty or worrying your going to hurt them is important in allowing your feelings out instead of holding them in and hurting yourself. Don't be ashamed of your scars, if they are still there years later, once you have stopped someday, look them and it can be a reminder of where you were and where you will never go again.
901413
I'm an ex-cutter myself; congratulations on giving up the habit--we both know that takes guts. Tell you the truth, it isn't as "bad" as people think it is; it's just socially unacceptable, dangerous in a minor way, and an ineffective way to cope with emotional problems.\n\nCutting is very socially unacceptable, except in very specific cultures--it might be accepted among "goths", or, if it is decorative, among people who are into body modification.\n\nHere's why cutting is socially unacceptable:\n\nWe are all born with a huge instinct for self-preservation. People do amazing things when their lives are in danger; look at any account of people who have survived things like fires, or being trapped in the wilderness, or plane crashes... Human beings are very, very motivated to survive.\n\nThe very strange thing is that you probably cut yourself because it was a last-ditch effort to survive. But other people didn't understand that.\n\nThere's a visceral reaction that people have when they see someone else with an injury--a psychological sympathy-pain reaction, I suppose. Whenever I see someone else with an injury, I know I kind of cringe in sympathetic pain... I don't know if you feel it the same way, but there's always a sort of knot in my stomach when I see someone else has been injured.\n\nThe second reason is that people see anyone who hurts themselves deliberately as mentally ill, and that there is a huge stigma associated with mental illness.\n\nBecause cutting is so "dramatic", and people can't imagine themselves doing it, they often think that it is much more severe than it actually is, or that it is a suicide attempt. In reality, superficial self-injury is usually an indicator of a relatively common mental illness like depression.\n\nPeople are afraid of those with mental illnesses. There are a lot of reasons for that:\n--Horror movies have a lot of villains who are psychopaths or otherwise insane... Despite that a murderer or other violent criminal is very likely to be perfectly sane, people associate mental illness with violence.\n--People are often afraid that they will "catch" your mental illness.\n--There's a certain social code that people follow. Whatever language you speak, that's only about half your communication to other people. The other half is nonverbal... gestures, clothes, the way you walk, your posture. People with mental illnesses often don't follow these unwritten codes; and people who see them don't "speak" the same nonverbal language. Therefore, people will often ostracize those with very mild problems... just because they can't predict their nonverbal actions.\n--People are afraid of what they don't know and can't predict. Prejudice against the unfamiliar--whether it's a different culture, or a different sexual orientation, or whatever--is very common. And those with mental illnesses, even common ones like depression or PTSD, are just different.\n\nWhen people see your scars, they know you have broken a taboo: The unwritten rule that one must always act to protect one's physical health. That rule is imprinted on your instincts.\n\nThe reason you broke that rule is because you knew that, with your limited options, you might hurt yourself worse if you didn't hurt yourself superficially. It's like getting a splinter out of your skin, so it doesn't get infected... It hurts, but it'd hurt a lot worse if you didn't.\n\nBecause you had limited options, you chose to hurt yourself in a small way to avoid big emotional pain. Now that you have more options, mentally and emotionally, to deal with emotional overload, you no longer need such a drastic coping strategy. Cutting really doesn't work all that well, anyway; so once you find a better way to deal with life, why go back?\n\nBut people don't understand that you felt you hadn't any other options. They jump
726949
Self mutilating is another issue. I'm sure you had to see a Dr. to determine that you are Bi-polar. PLEASE,PLEASE go and talk to the Dr. I had and I mean literally HAD a friend who was Bi-polar, and was also a cutter, and she did such a good job, that she is no longer here in this life. The only way to help yourself is to face it and get the help you need. Praying for you...
618028
hmm..... im getting that you dont cut from this, but whatever. Anyways, fist i have to say that some of the above comments are just prejuidice (seriosly, no offense =>) cause cutting is most often not for attention. People cut for different reasons, to relieve stress, distract themselves, keep them from commiting suicide, to make them feel some sort of emotion, etc... Also, when a person cuts an endorphine is realeased from the brain because the pain triggers it. Also, this feeling can become addictive like a drug, but the person becomes used to it and has to go farther and farther to get the same feeling. Now, cutting words doesnt nesscarily 'work' better, it doesnt realease more endorphines or anything. The cutter is using that as a way to show how they are feeling, not nesscarily to anyone though. Its just a way of expressing thier pain, like they might cut fat if they feel they are overweight. It can also be a way of taking out anger, seeing what upsets them in thier skin and stuff. But please understand, the people that do cut dont often do it for attention, and if they do do it for attention then they need just as much help if they are willing to do that. But please be sympathetic if you know anyone that hurts themselves, it can be a cry for help and the last thing they would need would be a person who attacks them, if that makes any sense. I hope some of this makes sense to you, if you have anymore questions emial me or something.
1126487
start of by asking if you can use a church hall or something then put flayers up  around your local areah and in your local news paper telling people they can come to a meating, where self harmers can come with out being judged! dont get docs and shrincs envolved as people will run! just let them know its a place to chat to people who suffer with the same thing! im a self harmer and id have loved something like that to be set up near me
217881
yes, it hurts, doesn't just about anything after it's cut.  I say if it wasn't done too you when you were too young to have a choice, don't do it now.  It is just another barbaric practice, that has no medical benefit that we victimize our fellow humans with, akin to docking puppy tails and cropping their ears just for aesthetics.  There is just no justified reason to maim yourself in this way and people are starting to educate themselves in this direction.
128253
Sweety, you might have to get a letter from a psychiatrist stating that you are mentally competent to handle your duties. I don't know what was involved in the self mutilation thing but if it was done out of fear or anxiety or a mental breakdown, you'll have to get a clean bill of health. I don't know if it will work but it's worth a try. Good luck, Honey. If you send me the details in email, I might be able to find something out for you. My brother's in the psych field. rilti8@sbcglobal.net
416009
Cutting is often reported by those who do so, as a form of "release" from actually feeling NOTHING AT ALL. For others, it is an attempt to redirect the pain.  Some others do use it as a form of self punishment. It depends. Whatever the reason, it is not always just a representation of childhood grievances; like one of the others here said, you can have a fine childhood. BUT, if you have a mental illness which can be purely organic/biological then cutting is a symptom of some pretty serious personality disorders. Either way, a cutter's suffering is great and should not be taunted because of it. Many go to great lengths to hide it and are ashamed.  If you know someone with this behavior, they need help and support soon. People who are cutters have a very high rate of suicide, although the cutting itself does not often represent a suicide attempt but some have accidentally resulted in such because they cut too deep.
594167
I think that this is one of the best sites that I have found. I enjoy trying to help other people, and getting the advice from others. Except for the ones that give the perverted answers for everything. Some people can't get their minds out of the gutter for anything. Sorry, I guess that is another answer for another question. So, yes this is a great site.
560587
For someone to tell you to please die? that's bullying. My daughter was a cutter, send me an email, I'd be glad to talk to ya.
403544
usually, a cutter is releasing emotion thas pent up. it would very helpful for to learn positive ways to express her emotions. you don't give an age, but i would assume you are teens?  you say she is having problems with her parents? thats not real specific, but if they are hurting her, there are people to help.  remember, most peopole who cut themselves are afraid to let a lot of people know, because they are judged just wanting attention, however i know its not always true.if a counselor isn't available, check out a library in the social service area and look for a book that could help.  good luck to you both, and how lucky is she to have such a great friend like you.
741545
Are you trying to stop? If so, congrats! That's a big first step to take =) Anyways...\n\nFirst, you should research the topic so that you have an idea of what you are dealing with, with some tips on how to deal with it, tell others, and such. It might give you some insight to why you hurt yourself as well. A sight that gives a basic description is  http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/selfinjury.cfm  a good page with some links to other pages depending on what you need is http://teenadvice.about.com/od/cuttingbranding/  I would also suggest the site recoveryourlife.com  it is a site of self harmers, either who are trying to stop, have stopped and trying to keep from going back, or have stopped and want to help others quite. It's got a forum and a chat room. It is a very good site because it doesn't glorify or condone cutting (Such as saying things like "Cutting is awesome" or  "Do you know (celebrity name) cuts? that means its tight!"  or posting pics on the site for others to comment on and such. That doesn't mean the members aren't understand or cruel or whatever. They want to stop the problem, instead of encouraging it). \n\nA good thing to try is professional help. I got a counselor for my self harm issues, and he was understanding and helpful. Most councellors are not judgemental and do there best to help, though a few might not be able to help someone with self harm issues, just because they are not well trained in that area of psychology, but most are cool. He/she will help you uncover why you are hurting yourself, and try to stop the behavior. So i would suggest getting a counselor if possible, they can be a great help.\n\nAnother thing to do is to tell someone you love about this issue (if you haven't already). Self harming is a very hard thing to stop, much harder if you don't have someone helping you. Not trying to discourage you, it's just if you have someone helping and encouraging you along the way it is "easier" for you to quit. Tell someone you can trust and that won't judge you, and will listen to you. If you want to tell someone, here is a tip that will hopefully make it easier. (This is meant to be used in telling your parents, but it should work for anything really). You should write out a letter, explaining about the cutting, why you do it (if you know), some information about it (so that they can have an idea of what's going on), your point of view, etc... This allows you to get all of the things you want to get out out, so that you don't end up forgetting something if you tell someone straight forward. You can either give the letter to the person (or leave it somewhere they can find it), or use it as a guide to tell the person(s) directly. \n\nAlso, there are some tips to stop the urges to self harm. Here are a few:\n\n*Draw in red pen on the area where you usually cut yourself. *just ignore it and move on. ALL urges will pass in time, you just have to distract yourself until they do \n*Do something relaxing when you are stressed, take a warm bath, do a soduko, read a book, cross-stitch (that works for me) whatever makes you relax\n*Write in a journal how you feel when you want to hurt yourself, get your feelings out\n*Listen to music that either: 1. calms you down, makes you happy 2. music that talks about how you are feeling, like hurt, angry, etc... (be careful with this though, it could actually trigger you if you aren't careful)\n*Talk to anyone, not nessecarily about the cutting, just call up a friend to distract yourself.\n*Hit something (not yourself) like a pillow or something\n*Pray (if you are religious)\n*Just distract yourself in some way. The feelings will pass, you just need to give it time. \n\nThere are many more tips, but these are the ones i can think of off the top of my head. These are tips to deal with the feelings. Now some tips for the pain part. \n\n*Hold ice cubes in your hand. It gives you the pain
654541
My son start cutting himself 5 years ago.  The best thing that I did was to educate myself about why he was doing it.  I went into chat rooms for cutters, read blogs by cutters, did anything I could to interact with others who cut.  \n\nShe is not trying to kill herself.  If you can get her to talk about it, great.  Until then, try to find out why people cut from cutters themselves.