Why does so many people cut?

why do so many people like to hurt themselve?
what's up with all that self-injury thing?
where the fun part in it?
is it just some emo-fashion-thing?

feedback - xenophobe: yeah, I know, I'm into BDSM myself
but this is diffrent

The reasons are very diverse and often poorly understood. But of course, there are some general reasons. Many of them stem from a very traumatic life experience. Also note that cutting is not the only way people self harm. Hitting yourself, burning yourself, and taking overdoses on purpose are all common.

Self punishment is one of them. Some people may feel very guilty about a certain life event. Perhaps they see that they are the cause of their parent's domestic violence and uses self harm as a way to punish him/herself. This is often accentuated by parents themselves telling their kids that they're worthless, stupid, unwanted etc. Victims of rape may incorrectly blame themselves for the sequence of events that led to their rape. They may feel that the rape was their fault and that they should have prevented it. Self harm may be a way to punish themselves from their own perceived mistakes, which caused the poor mental state that they suffer at the moment.

A method of self control is another common reason. People who are victims of physical/emotional abuse can resort to self-harm. People who are subjected to this pain, which they have absolutely no control over, along with other aspects of life that they have no control over may resort to self-harm for a method of pain that they do have control over. It may be one of the few things in their life that they feel as if they have control over, and that's a very important thing to have. You can imagine the mental anguish if you could not even control your own life.

Another reason is distraction. Often, when faced with terribly stressful emotional situations that the person simply can't deal with for extended periods, he/she may resort to self harm as a means of distraction. When you hear your father abusing your mother every day in the other room while you can do nothing, you become very stressed out and want to distance yourself from the situation. Since physically leaving the house may not be an option, you may resort to self harm. The pain you cause yourself is, of course, a way that you can replace the thoughts in your mind with something else, albeit, it's not really a healthy thing to do. When you're constantly put down at school, those words will continually haunt you after school, at the dinner table, when your doing homework, and when you try to sleep. Self harm is a way to distance yourself from those insults that won't leave you alone, since the pain distracts you from it.

Emotional numbing is another reason. Due to some very traumatic event, or a continual event, a person may mentally shut down since he/she no longer wants to experience those painful feelings he/she was once feeling. This, of course, is the exact opposite of what I understand "emo" to be. Again, it's caused by things like constant domestic violence, sexual/physical/verbal abuse, death of a close one etc. The emotions that people experience during these events, are of course, very unpleasant. So it's possible that the person will simply shut down his/her emotions to avoid the unpleasantness. Of course, when you no longer feel happy when you're out to the movie with friends, or when you're no longer sad when a relative dies, you lose one of the main things that make you a living human being. You want to feel alive again, but don't want to risk those experiencing those negative feelings. Thus, self harm provides you with a core sentiment-pain. Though it's only one of the myriad of emotions available to a living human, it's the one that's most readily accessible to these people .

Is it for attention? Mostly no. You probably don't know too many people who self harm, and there's a good reason for that. I personally don't know anyone. People who self harm don't want others to know, and they go to ridiculously huge lengths so that people don't find out. If they wanted attention, they'd be wearing short sleeve shirts and short shorts every day to parade their scars around all day, and that's simply not the case. But self harm is a way to indirectly and subtly call for help. If someone does self harm, you can be pretty sure there's some serious problem in that person's life that you cannot even fathom.

Also, so far as I know, relatively few people do in fact self-harm. I'm not sure where you got the idea that "so many people" do it.

Although there's little "fun" in it, seeing as how there's little fun in getting raped or getting beat up by your parents, self harm will often give a feeling of euphoria along with the pain. It's very hard to explain until you personally experience it. It's presumably a result of finally getting relief from the aforementioned pain and suffering that the person is undergoing.

As for emo, well, the teens that do this for some fad are just stupid teens who think social trends are top priority. Otherwise, I don't really see rape, sexual abuse, physical violence, and suicide as a "fashion-thing".

Hope I gave enough examples so that you can put yourself in someone else's shoes.

because their emotionally depressed.

their hurt.

it makes them feel better.

they feel like nobody understands them

shall i say more?

It is all the rage for those who feel dead inside.

they want some effin attention.

Yes a bit of that. Alot of immaturity and mental illness.

Have you ever heard the saying "there's a thin line between pleasure and pain" there are many people who actually get sexual fulfillment by certain pains such as cutting and burning and pinching. Others do it simply for attention or as a first stage in a cry for help headed towards suicidal thoughts. But when people in their 20's and higher experiment with it...it is usually for a sexual rush.

No emos just do it more. They cut for attention. It sounds bad but they want help and that is just their way. To brag about it and get sympathy when talking about it.

I'm so sick of people associating cutting with "emo." "Emo" is a style of music that has spawned a style of fashion. That is where it ends.

Cutting is a sign of a serious mental disturbance of some sort, not a fashion statement. I won't argue that there are kids who think it's cool somehow, but doing it to fit in is still a sign that something is very wrong.

some people do it for attention.
but its mostly that they need to let their pain out and thats the only way they can

I don't know if it is a emo fashion thing i hear about emo kids doing it however

cutting is like a way for people, who are usually depressed and/or who have self esteem issues or who's lives are not the greatest, to physically feel and have control over the pain they feel inside, mentally.

Some people get a euphoric feeling from it, the feeling of control and release, a painful release that relieves the person. Its kind of hard to discribe.

But it is not a healthy thing to do.

Anyone who does it should seek help, someone to talk to

AS LONG AS THEY ONLY HURT THEMSELVES AND NOT OTHERS, WHO CARES.

i have only met one person like that...she was bipolar also..not sure if it is a bipolar thing...but she had many issues including alcoholism...

Depends on the person... some people do it for the popularity-emo thing, some do it because it helps them deal with their emotional pain, some do it so they can actually feel pain/alive, some do it for a sexual adrenaline rush, etc.

Its like asking, "Why do so many people get drunk on weekends?", well people do it for a lot of reasons.

i am not vey sure but i think it could be various reasons like getting attention, may be mentally disturbed.

Although there are no doubt thousands of people who cut, MOST people do not cut. And of those who do cut, it is so much more than a cry for attention or a sign of immaturity. It is also not a fashion emo-thing. People do it for so many different reasons. Some to punish themselves, some to feel numb, some NOT to feel numb. The so-called "fun" part could be that many people who cut themselves report feeling a "rush" when they injure themselves.

Some people feel so much emotional pain for long periods of time that at some point they self mutilate in order to feel something else. Little do they know that this method releases endorphins which causes them to feel some pleasure which is why they learn to continue self mutilating. Its called a coping skill all-be-it not a good one.

to answer ur question seriously.... many people cut themselves cause they have problems either dealing with emotional problem and cant cope with reality..... inflicting cuts to themselves makes them feel satisfaction, good and releaved.......either because they dont have anyone to talk to you or they cant open up about their feeling keep them bottled up and be harming to themselves and the people around them..... suicide rate is climbing from just cutting themselves... there is no fun in cutting urself...... cutting themselves is actually pretty dangerous since some ppl use different things from protracters to glass to razer blades to knives to scissors ect all those things can have bateria and dirt which could cause infection in blood and could cause many other health problems...... no to mention the scars that when u grow older u have to explain to ppl how u got it and why........ just alot of problems for nothing

I am really losing hope. I can't seem to get my life in proper perspective. I am depressed and I have been fighting with it for years now (back and forth). Maybe inflicting pain on myself will make me feel better...

Spare a girl some advice:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

WELL MAYBE U SHLD READ UPON IT.IT IS SO PAINFUL IN THIER WORLD THAT THEY RELEASE THIS PAIN BY DOING THIS

Cutting isn't really about people crying out for attention (it can be, depending on the case), but about someone who copes differently with the rigors of life. Some people may drink, some people smoke, some people do drugs, some force themselves to eat to excess, some force themselves to vomit, some people meditate or do yoga, some work out to the point their bodies are frail, and some people cut. They're all coping skills, regardless of how positively or negatively they're viewed.

As for the fun part of it... nothing is fun about it. Just another coping skill that may or may not be effective, safe, or rational.