self mutilation

Sadly, it isn't pointless: it helps. At least that's what I find anyway -shrug-

I don't know if you will read this, but anyway: can you explain what you're talking about here please? Some people genuinely do it as a cry for help.

 

dude, you guys have to see something here. i am not talking about emo kids that sit there and go, ooh, look my parents hate me, i think im going to slash myself now. i mean real deal cutters, the ones that do it out of anguish and pain. those ones are the ones that dont say anything. i don't mean people carving hearts onto their arms. i mean people slicing up their arms in the dark, alone, sobbing, wishing they had the strength to go deeper. yeah, its a cry for help. they can't do it themselves. you people sit here and say well then go deeper, kill yourselves this time. that is not fair, and it is rude. everyone i know that ever cut themselves (at least on a daily basis) kept it a SECRET. my friend from first grade...the only reason she said anything at all to anyone is that she was there when i got drunk and tried to kill myself. she didn't want to be in that position herself, she wanted to get help before she got there. this problem is REAL. and if you loved someone and they had this problem, you would not be saying this.

i don't know what else to say, except that i think people should stop attacking everyone about them doing it. eventually it becomes an addiction, and you CAN'T stop. you would not be saying this to someone that became an alcoholic because their mother died or something and they drank to take away the pain until that was all they could do to function, so you shouldn't do it about this either.

 

thanks. i now have tea all over my keyboard

you make it sound so poetic and flowery, its quite sad

 

Trust me shep, slicing up your arms like that is NOT poetic and flowery. It's a shame, you can't say things like that anymore, the blind truth, without being accused of being "emo" or something.

 

sorry dear, wasn't making a point i was just laughing at the fact it appeared she was condining the action because that's what its beginning to sound like

 

no i am not condOning the action i am saying it is not fair to do what you guys are doing without knowing the reason behind why the people do it.

 

It really depends on what you consider "self mutilation."

Having earrings could be considered self mutilation. Putting holes in your earlobes and then putting metal through them is pretty gross if you think about it. Same with any other piercings. Tattoos could be considered mutilation as well. If being stabbed by needles over and over again for hours isn't mutilation, I don't know what is.

In our culture, these things can be considered beautiful. I love tattoos and piercings, a lot of people do. In other places, having scars is looked at in the same way that we look at tattoos and piercings.

So my opinion of self mutilation is this: It all depends on your reasoning, and it shouldn't be done just to cause pain to yourself or to get attention.

 

I was trying to imply that the title of the topic isn't exactly right. Should have been titled "Cutting" or "Attention Whores: The Cutters of Our Time".

 

What's with the last one? I really don't think all cutters are attention whores.

 

this is a disease and i don't think that you people making fun of it is right. maybe you have never seen it i don't know but you need to stop being so derogatory.

 

Seems to be a few who think they're in it for the attention, so I tried to please both.

I never said they were looking for attention. and i never said they weren't. Some do, some don't. I really don't care, hasn't affected me or my life.

 

Amen. Disease or not, it's voluntary. And if it's voluntary, I don't know if you can really classify it as a disease.

Excuse me while I chase my tail for a bit

 

I am an ex self harmer, I quit because I was hurting those around me. I dont know why i used to do it. It used to help me get rid of emotions and balance out what was wrong in my life. I guess it was my way of dealing with all the bad stuff which came my way.

Since i quit I have only done it every so often and not with anything sharp or dangerous. THe most i have done in the last few monthes is try to overdose and it took a lot to set me off like that.

If you try to quit you can do it. Just give it time. Took me eight monthes.

 

Aaron: A little bit over the line, but a laugh nonetheless =P

It's a disease? Whoa that really is overkill. And like Shep, I'm laughing myself silly (though I probably feel a little more guilt then he did).

Anyway - people have all sorts of ways of dealing with problems, I suppose cutting is one of them, though yes I agree with the fact that it can just be attention whoring because seeing this sort of thing is so shocking to a person that they lavish more attention on the cutter, which makes them cut more etc etc.

So despite having a "leave them to it. It's not my problem" attitude, I do think that it's quite the wrong way of going about things.

And Rosanna: Yes it really does sound like you're trying to advertise self-harm. So maybe you should be quiet for a while or at least try to think before you type.

 

I know what Rosanna means by "disease". Sometimes you get so sucked into it that you really can't think of anything else to do to help yourself, other than cut.

 

source

so i guess that every self help thing out there is condoning this as well. because clearly, according to them, this is not their fault. they don't just turn people away and say "oh well it's your fault, fix it yourself, do us all a favor and kill yourself next time." do you know how worthless that makes someone feel? if someone you loved had this problem, you would not be acting so closeminded.

but then again i don't know anything about this right? i know more about this shit than anyone should know. i have been through it and instead of letting all of you sit here and berate me for what i'm saying, i am going to be proud that i have gotten through yet another self harming experience.

 

Don't. You. DARE. Play. That. Card.

 

Well I've read all the posts in this thread and overall I must say that I agree with almost everything that Rosanna says. Not every person out there that resorts to physical self-harm does it for attention. I have a friend that really really didn't want to tell me about them doing it because they thought that I would think less of them because they did it. There are people out there that resort to it because it is easier to deal with than the emotional pain that they feel at the time. There are safer and more effective ways of dealing with emotional pain though.