Cutting oneself

Yesterday, I saw my friend with lots of cuts on her wrist. I asked her what happened and she just gave me a smile in return. So why did she do it? I don't know so I've tried to search for answers and this is what I found out.

Self-harm

A way of coping with intense depression and emotional pain may be self-harm. It can assist you to convey emotions that you are unable to put into words, distract you from your life, or relieve emotional pain. You will probably feel fine afterwards, at least for a little bit. But then the bad feelings come back, and you get the desire to get hurt again.

Self-harm requires whatever you do to hurt yourself deliberately. Some of the more widespread approaches include:

• Cutting the skin or seriously scratching it

• Burning or scalding yourself

• Banging your head or hurting yourself

• Punching things or tossing your body against heavy surfaces and walls

• Sticking your skin with artifacts

• Intentionally stopping healing wounds

• Swallowing hazardous substances or unsuitable objects

Less apparent ways to hurt yourself or put yourself at risk, such as driving recklessly, drinking binge, taking too many drugs, or having risky sex, may also be included in self-harm.

Why do individuals self-harm?

Sometimes, hurting yourself is the only way you know how to:

• Tackle emotions such as sorrow, self-loathing, emptiness, remorse, and rage

• You can't put your emotions into words or release the pain and tension you feel inside.

• Feel under charge, reduce remorse, or punish yourself

• Distract yourself from overwhelming thoughts or unpleasant situations in life

• Make you feel alive or, instead of feeling numb, just feel something

Whatever the reasons for self-harming, it's important to know that if you want to quit, there is support available. Without trying to hurt yourself, you will learn other ways to deal with all that's going on inside.

Cutting and self-harm consequences

The relief resulting from cutting or self-harming is only temporary and produces far more issues than it addresses.

Relief from cutting or self-harming is short-lived, and other emotions such as remorse and guilt are soon followed. Meanwhile, it prevents you from studying techniques that are more effective for feeling better.

It is hard and lonely to preserve the secret of self-harm. You might feel embarrassed, or you might just think nobody's going to understand. But it's a heavy responsibility to mask who you are and what you feel. Ultimately, your relationships with friends and family members and how you feel about yourself are affected by secrecy and remorse.

Even if you don't mean to, you can hurt yourself badly. It’s easy to end up with an infected wound or misjudge the depth of a cut, especially if you’re also using drugs or alcohol.

You are in danger of getting bigger problems down the road. You lift the risk of major depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide if you don't learn other ways to cope with emotional pain.

It may become addicted to self-harm. It can begin as an impulse or something you do to feel more in control, but it soon feels like you are dominated by cutting or self-harming. It also transforms into a behavior of obsession that seems difficult to avoid.

Bottom line

The bottom line is that with the problems that made you want to injure yourself in the first place, cutting and self-harm won't help you. There are several other, more powerful ways to solve the underlying problems that drive your self-harm, no matter how sad, useless, or trapped you might be feeling right now.