Although cutting may provide some temporary relief
from a terrible feeling, even people who cut agree that
it isn’t a good way to get that relief
People don’t usually intend to hurt
themselves permanently when they
cut
What Can Happen to People
Who Cut?
Although cutting may provide
some temporary relief from a
terrible feeling, even people who
cut agree that it isn’t a good way
to get that relief. For one thing,
the relief doesn’t last. The
troubles that triggered the cutting
remain - they’re just masked
over.
People don’t usually intend to
hurt themselves permanently
when they cut. They don’t
usually mean to keep cutting
once they start. Both can
happen. It’s possible to misjudge
the depth of a cut, making it so
deep that it requires stitches.
Cuts can become infected if a
person uses non sterile or dirty
cutting instruments - razors,
scissors, pins or even the sharp
edge of the tab on a can of soda.
Most people who cut aren’t
attempting suicide. Cutting is
usually a person’s attempt at
feeling better, not ending it all.
Although some people who cut
do attempt suicide, it’s usually
because of the emotional
problems and pain that lie
behind their desire to self-harm,
not the cutting itself. Cutting can
be habit forming. It can become
a compulsive behavior meaning that the more a person
does it, the more he or she feels
the need to do it. The brain starts
to connect the false sense of
relief from bad feelings to the act
of cutting and it craves this relief
the next time tension builds.
When cutting becomes a
compulsive behavior, it can
seem impossible to stop. Cutting
can seem almost like an
addictions, where the urge to cut
can seem too hard to resist. A
behavior that starts as an
attempt to feel more in control
can end up controlling you.
How Does Cutting Start?
Cutting often begins on an
impulse. It’s not something the
person thinks about ahead of
time. Shauna says, “It starts
when something’s really
upsetting and you don’t know
how to talk about it or what to
do. You can’t get your mind off
feeling upset and your body has
this know of emotional pain.
Before you know it, you’re
cutting yourself. Then somehow,
you’re in another place. Then,
the next time you feel awful
about something, you try it again
- and slowly it becomes a habit.
Natalie, a high-school junior who
started cutting in middle school,
explains that it was a way to
distract herself from feelings of
rejection and helplessness she
felt she couldn’t bear.