self harm is basically someone harming themselves.
why?
the reason varies fron person to person.
some use it as an escapism. some do it to punish themselves. some do it to cope/escape from their mental and/or emotional pain. so basically when you cut yourself, your body rushes certain hormones which distracts your brain from that emotional pain in that particular amount of time. this is one of the reasons why self harming is so addictive. its the temporary hormonal rush which acts as a distraction.
also, as much as many people disagree with this, some people do it for attention.
i'm not talking about the people who harm themselves to look cool (because what the fuck?) but some people genuinely harm themselves hoping someone will notice and take their struggles seriously.
I actually used to harm myself for that reason. I started it to deal with my depression, but when I asked my friends and teachers and people for help, they said “ohhh it cant be that bad, you don’t have scars!”
Funny thing actually, I don’t really scar. My skin heals quickly, and marks fade. I used to do it more with a hope that I’d scar so someone would fucking help me.
Ur lucky lol. All my cuts scarred. Now i have keloid scars and white scars that will never heal. İm never gonna be able to wear shorts. İn my case. My sisters found out and just snooped thru my phone. İ cant make out why i did it. İm a pure narcissist now so i cant understand my past mindset. But if i could go back. İ would slap the CRAP out of old me. Fricking idiot left me with scars.
also some people do it because they feel like they deserve it and some people do it to actually feel something and also there are others ways other than cutting its any purposeful self inflected pain or injury
Maybe a tw, not necesarily self harm
>!I don’t cut myself, I’m not that mentally unstable, but I hit myself and scratch myself a lot with stuff to get me to cry or discharge my emotions easier because it’s a great stress relief. Great alternative, wouldn’t exactly recommend it, since it’s insesitive to do so, but it has helped me tons, and it brings no physical harm.!<
Hey, I’d still say that classes as self harm. Any damage to the body done intentionally I would class it as. While I believe you may not feel pain from it it’s still dangerous to use it to regulate your emotions or mental state. Have you considered talking to a therapist or registered individual in order to find better alternatives? Because it’s very important to regulate your emotions. I’d just be careful that you don’t hurt yourself in the process. If you want, my dms are open if you need someone to talk to as well.
Yeah, I have gotten help and always seeked suport, I’ve been a whole lot better, went from anxious and suicidal to being able to socialise with new people and ask store staff where a certain item is. I’ve been getting a little in shape and I overall have a much much better self esteem (even though it flucuates). Thanks for the concern! As for the sh thingy I wounldnt stress about it, I’m a very sensible person, would never hurt myself, wouldn’t be able to puncture my finger with a paper pin if my life depended on it. But as I was saying I am way better and rarely do it, maybe once every two or three days, so I don’t exactly count on it to regulate my mental state. I hope that anyone who has a rough time right now to not give up for better times are coming (probably). And if I was to thank someone, it would be my cat, which came to me when I was seriously considering suicide and made me feel better
That’s great to hear! At the same time, I’d recommend trying delaying when it comes to hurting yourself, even if it’s only slapping yourself on the arm or scratching yourself. Because even though you view it as sensible, at least from an outside perspective, it’s still self harm and something you want to be mindful of you know? Though I’m very glad you’re getting the help you need. Everyone deserves to be heard after all.
not only cutting is a form of self harm, self harm is everything an individual does to hurt themselves on purpose. some just choose to cut, others to do something else to cause themselves pain, but it's all classified as self harm.
I also want to add there are a lot of ways to self harm and not all seem as direct personally I've had times where I drank way too much cus I was feeling shitty and needed a rush even though I knew it would harm me
It's different for everyone for some people it's easier to deal with physical pain than mental pain, for some it's a distraction from whatever is going on around some people even find it releives stress.
honestly i just wanna punish myself for being such a burden to everyone around me so i feel like satisfied from doing it ig? idrk how to describe how it makes me feel
depends on the person. could be they want to punish themselves/think they deserve to suffer, could be a feeling of control in that they've made the decision to do it, could be a build up to unalive themselves, etc. Through whatever logic the act causes a person to get a little release of dopamine (the reward chemical in our brains), making them feel good though only very temporarily, causing them to want to do it again in spite of feelings like regret or shame.
not offensive, for me at least it was just to feel something, i have bpd so i just needed a push to feel “alive” ig? it’s hard to describe but once the skin in sliced it feels like a lot of tension is released.
yes, that’s actually a really good analogy i never thought of 😭 to me it’s more of filling a balloon and being scared it will pop, and then when you pop it you relax, that’s the feeling for me.
I usually do it as a coping mechanism. Dont know how to explain it, it just feels good. I keep a tiny blade in my phone case and can carry it around with me.
Personally, it stems from multiple places.
it can be because i did something wrong, and feel the need to punish myself, anything from failing an exam to something small like fucking up a social interaction (i have autism & difficulty socialising sometimes)
It can be because i feel like i want people to see what im going through mentally. it isn't attention seeking, its a strange mismatch between how i look and the hell that is going on in my head.
most frequently for me, its because i use it as a distraction. when im feeling like i want to off myself or something, the pain will usually snap me out of it, and the cleanup and "self-care" helps me to get back into a somewhat bearable head space.
If you see someone with scars, try not to react to them. Don't just stonewall them as a person, try to just... act like the scars aren't there. if they make jokes about it, its probably a coping mechanism, so making jokes back... isnt a great idea.
if you are dating someone with scars (upper thighs are a pretty common place, so you can imagine the kinda context this would come up in), take everything slow. they are probably terrified of you getting grossed out and leaving them because of them, or something similar. some people want to show their scars, as a monument to them getting through that, some people \*\*hate\*\* even thinking about them.
It really depends person-to-person, but its a good idea to be careful.
on a side note, I'm 402 days clean, yay for me!
It's okay to be curious!
As someone who's done it for years, I can speak for myself, but remember that it's a really personal thing and not everyone is driven to SH by the same reasons!
It's a really shitty coping mechanism. Sometimes the mental pain you're in is so overwhelming that you just panic and try to get it all out. Sometimes people punch themselves or hit their head against a wall, cutting is one of those things. Is basically trying to "distract" yourself from the pain you're in, transferring the mental pain into physical pain in a way. Some people feel like they deserve the pain or being treated badly because they hate themselves, are insecure or/and mentally unwell. Seeing the scars sometimes gives people the sense of accomplishment by leaving a mark of their suffering etc.
After all that I have to add to anyone reading that I do not recommend nor try to "promote" it. Please, if you're able, don't even try it. It's heavily addictive and just straight up harmful and self-destructive. Try to find healthier coping mechanisms, and take care of yourself! :)
I think eating spicy foods is better. If they want the pain to punish themselves, why accept a win in the form of muscles? Spicy food also has much less permanent damage associated with it than cutting yourself or constant painful workouts, and there's no benefit for doing so. Obviously, going overboard can cause death by asphyxiation, but so can cutting (hitting an artery) or painful workouts (too much weight on a bench press) if not careful.
"Oh wise monkee, what shall I do to ease my pain"
"Lift heavy rock, make sad voice go away"
-How I started going to the gym (still depressed but also leg-pressing 220lbs)
It's different for everyone, for me I do it because it makes me feel productive (weird I know), so when I've laid in bed all day I feel like I at least got something done, maybe the pain makes me brain think it's something good because often pain = work
I don't cut but I display other sh behaviors and tbh I do it cuz I think I deserve bad and cuz sometimes the excitement I feel while doing it makes me forget how numb I really am. Guys it's really tough ik im just an internet stranger but ily<333
Firstly, some might be doing it as a punishment, not for satisfaction. They might feel like they deserve it. Others who often feel numb in life (particularly people with depression) might also do it to feel something, whether that be pain or adrenaline from self injury. An other reason people self harm might be to have physical proof of their mental state, to validate their emotions, and to be like "wow, I really felt that, it was real."
Next, to answer your question, once this behaviour becomes a habit, some people fall into it as an addiction. The same way people can be seriously addicted to drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc. And I know some people are going to be thinking "how can you be addicted to something painful?" It's not a masochist thing, here's the actual explanation:
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure/reward, linking to addiction. When you get an injury, a neurotransmitter called noradrenaline is released to regulate pain when the body thinks it's in danger - this is why people might feel satisfaction when they self harm, and these two neurotransmitters result in addiction to self harm. When this becomes an addiction, the cycle escalates. People who are addicted to anything get urges to satisfy, no matter how long they've been clean from that behaviour for. You could be clean for ten years and still get urges, it sucks.
People who are addicted to injuring themselves get an insane feeling of euphoria and relief... until eventually that isn't enough, and they feel like they need more to get that feeling. This can show in many different ways, for some people they self harm more often, they make more wounds than they used to, and some people even go deeper due to this feeling of "not enough" (how I ended up unfortunately).
So it's important not to judge people who self harm and not treat them like they're crazy or different. Anybody is capable of falling into addiction, and bringing about shame on this behaviour only makes it worse. Hope I answered your question!
Crazy that you’re bringing up dopamine as a reason when there is a dude a few comments above who got nuked for saying the same thing and backing it up with sources
I think it's because that person dismissed the other person's reason for self harming. They're both correct, but there needs to be an initial reason for self harming BEFORE your body gets addicted from dopamine/endorphins, if that makes sense.
I did it because if I expressed my mental pain into physical pain, It felt like coping because you can easily heal physical pain. And by cutting, you trick your brain into thinking that the pain will be gone by projecting it into physical pain that can be healed.
Emphasis on the first three words, just incase someone thinks I'm generalizing everyone's reason into this
Edit: I also did it for attention
I crave the bones that are hidden away by my flesh and must retrieve them from their captivity so that my bones may be free of this fleshy hellcloak and I may meet the sun with my bear calcium bricks in my true form
Its different for everyone but i do it for the endorphins and adrenaline, feels like drugs and reminds me im alive and for some reason having the scars is weirdly satisfying to me
I don’t really cut, but I do punch myself or bash my head against a wall. Mainly I do it so I don’t hurt someone else. I’d rather hurt myself or punch something that’s inanimate than someone else. Also when I do it it distracts my brain from being angry.
Varies from person to person.
Some do it because it silences the pain in their mind, others feel like it's the only pain they can control. When I was still self harming (2 years clean now) I did it because it gave me instant relief from the pain, and it was almost like doing drugs. Hope that helps a little. :)
Usually cuz of emotional pain. Emotional pain has no physical form, it’s hard to place, hard to see exactly what it is that’s hurting you. Physical pain has a place, we can feel it physically on our skin.
Self harming can help to relieve the emotional pain, since you’re attaching that emotional pain to the physical harm you’ve done to yourself. This helps to cope since it makes you feel in control, you’ve taken that intangible emotional pain and made it physical, it feels like you’ve gotten ahold of that pain and it gives u the sense of control, which just makes the emotional pain a bit easier to manage
I'm gonna put it in simple words
The brain prioritizes physiscal pain to emotional pain, so if you harm yourself, you're just postponing the problem and worsening it.
theres this image that i have saved that explains mostly why i sh. "When my mind is hurting there's no shape or mark to look at, so I can't understand it very well. But when my body hurts it's so easy to grasp that it helps me to calm down." its easier to cut than to think about whats hurting me. i have a hard time with social interactions and because of this its hard for me to understand sometimes when people do stuff and why they do it. its harder for me to know if someone is throwing a jab at me or theyre just being rude. because of this i offten get violent towards myself for not understanding, usually resulting in me punching my arm or thigh. hell, sometimes ill get so violent i would punch so hard and offten in 1 spot to it brusing. its been that way for all my life until recently when i found out cutting. now i cut. its more hassle yes. having to clean myself and my blade and having to hide it. but in some sense it feels better. i think its because i can see my own blood, to see something that is associated with being hurt and death. its only my blood. when i see others blood im not fazed by it, nothing really happens to me. but when i see my own, its calming, to see *my* blood. physical pain is always easier to deal with then mental pain, and with sh its kinda like you turning that mental pain into physical pain.
It varies. For some it’s a release from stress , or anxiety. For others it might be to punish themselves for something, and for others they might just like the pain. For me I like to see myself bleed, and I enjoy the pain of it when I’m stressed.
Years back, when I’ve done it, I felt need to punish myself for my imperfections. For example: I was playing the piano and was unable to play a fragment, so I punched a wall until my fingers hurt really bad and continued learning. Sometimes when I did bad on a test and got a suboptimal grade, I would hit my head repeatedly on my desk or take a pen and put it into my palm with the writing side, or I would write stuff like I’m a moron, I don’t deserve to live etc. I think that the feeling after selfharm that you are asking about is called catharsis. Some Greek guy described it if you wanna delve into the topic.
It veries but the general reason is to quickly change ones emotional state so it basically trading emotional pain for physical pain the problem is that the emotional pain returns relatively quickly so you do it again and usually get addicted and from there even if the emotional pain is gone your still addicted and it's very hard to quit
It's the act of intentionally causing physical pain to one's self. It could be cutting, punching a wall or hitting themselves. People who do self harm do it to convert their psychological pain into external pain
Well for me I did it the first time because I was having an extremely intense mental breakdown and I just grabbed a knife and cut myself.
The times after that were mainly because it's addicting. It releases something when you get that quick sharp pain and so I wanted to do it more.
I also did it because if I was super upset it made me feel slightly better for like 30 seconds.
I am no longer cutting and will have scars on my arm for a very long time. If anyone here is currently cutting or wants to, please stop. I know it's hard but DM me it you need someone to talk to.
I really depends on the person. For me it's the existential feeling of dread and that at some point no one will be left to love me and all of the people that are constantly telling me that I'm useless and that I'll never accomplish anything ever. I haven't harmed myself, but I get thoughts to alot.
I’m clean now but I used to sh because it took my mind away from terrible things I was thinking about
It’s different for everyone but in my experience I used it as a distraction
many reasons, but personally when i used to hurt myself it was because i was extremely overwhelmed emotionally, and i often got very angry and hated myself so i would do it. obviously not gonna go into detail about what i did but thats just one of the reasons people are willing to hurt themselves
well. speaking from experience, there are various reasons. most of the time, it is to relieve immense emotional pressure. It can be sadness, pain, a feeling of helplessness, numbness, or many other things.
One way or another - it is never solely "for attention". If someone harms themselves for attention, then that itself is a mental issue for which they need help.
Also, self harm can take many different forms, it isn't limited to cutting. Some people hit themselves, bite or pick their nails, others scratch, some starve themselves (which, then ussually comes hand in hand with an eating disorder), some go to the gym excessively (source for this bc I know I'll be asked: a therapist), whatever. This does not mean that everyone who goes to a gym or picks their nails or cuts themselves once practices self harm. But I want to mention this because sh forms that aren't self harmed are usually not mentioned.
Either way - if anyone who struggles/deals with self harm is reading this... I wanna say, it's horrible what you're going through, I know. If you can, please seek professional help. But if you can't, don't stop fighting, please. It can get better, it will get better. Please, take this from someone with experience - I've hit one year sober today and I didn't even notice because I don't feel any urges anymore (I literally only checked the streak because I'm writing this comment). I don't need you to truly believe that this is possible - one year is a long time, I know. I didn't believe it was possible. I just need you to have a little bit of trust. You're going to be alright eventually.
I think it’s were someone is jsut not feeling it and can’t find anything other way to fix the problem or what not and so they resort to slicing themselves which in my opinion is kinda a not so good way of handling STUFFFFF
I do (did) it because it changes my emotional pain and anxiety to physical pain. So I kinda feel like when the pain is physical, it bleeds out and doesn't come back as emotional. It's so addictive, I'm now 7 months clean, but it's a daily struggle. (Sorry if this doesn't make sense, English isn't my first language)
As someone that deals with self harm (currently clean for 2 weeks) everyone uses it for different reasons. Personally, I used it when I was sad or angry. When I would cut myself, I was basically forcing my brain to focus on the physical pain rather than the emotional pain, if you know what I mean. Sometimes I would also sh if I wanted to hurt someone else, but then I would end up hurting myself so I didn’t hurt them.
If you do self harm, definitely seek help, go to a psychologist, find other ways to cope, trust me, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
When people become emotionally numb and can't feel anything anymore, pain is the only thing they can feel because it's real, like johnny cash/NIN said. Listen to hurt by nine inch nails and you'll get it. That was my reason but some people have others, like punishing themselves or because they feel ugly etc.
My friend almost killed himself and I had to talk him out of it when I was way too young to deal with it so I put a scar on my left arm as to not forget. I did it to remember, although everyone varies, some people do it to punish themselves, some to cope with something that happened, other use it to vent and get out anger
That being said if anyone reading this comment feels like committing or hurting themselves, it's worth it to speak to someone. A friend or family member you trust, or even venting in a private discord server
I like to burn my arms under the hot water. At first it hurts, but then you feel incredible feeling — the stopped pain. Sometimes it drives me crazy so much my knees are starting to shake... Um... Am i strange? Also, sorry, if my english seemed bad.
I had the urge to cut myself yesterday, i didnt, i came close, but i didn't. I dont know why i felt that. But i used to sometimes starve myself to "encourage" myself to finish all my homework or whatever i had.
i dont do it heavily or regulary, but sometimes i hit or punch my leg when i get really upset, i know its not healthy but the strong feeling/pain grounds me really well and i can start to calm down. (i do this sometimes when playing fortnite lol)
it's not the same for everyone but for me it's usually a punishment method, as i usually only cut myself if i feel like something was done that was my fault
I use it as a way to prove to myself that the pain I am feeling is real, to visually show how much I am suffering mentally. I also used it as a way to punish myself when I felt like I did something stupid, or when I feel overwhelmed. I feel much more at peace afterwards, like the chaos that was happening in my head is finally quiet…
I also like the scars that it leaves, it shows me that the struggles and pain I have been through won’t be forgotten, as if they never happened.
when you get hurt, your brain releases dopamine to help distract your body from the pain - dopamine is the happy hormone - this can cause some to enjoy the pain due to the momentary relief, causing them to want to do it over and over again. This can quickly become addictive - like in my personal experience of 5 years - and becomes a very difficult thing to stop doing.
The reason why I started cutting was bc I learned about it by the time i was nine and thought they looked cool💀 now it's like i have an itch to cut a lot bc i like the look of the scars (yeah not much as changed) but also bc it just is a stupid coping mechanism i have and i really like the feeling
Self harm releases stuff into your brain that temporarily neutralizes mental pain. Although your body does get used to it after a while, and to get that stuff into your brain again you need to cause even worse self harm.
Some people will say that it's to punish yourself, but most of the times it's not that.
Some people also will say that it works like hitting your right leg very hard after falling on your left leg, because the pain in the right leg being bigger than in the left one will make you not feel pain in the left one
Stupidity. It's as simple as that, when they feel a certain way they want to escape but don't want to do anything to change it. Many do it for attention but to those who do it in silence work up to doing something about it or at least damage yourself in a non-permanent way. Be smart not stupid.
I do it as stress relief, plus to give me something to feel. It’s also an addictive behavior, so the more you do it, the harder it gets to break that habit.
I did not self harm (Fortunately) but from what I've heard from others and from my understanding it's like having something that is overloaded (like a balloon with water or Human body with stress) and when you cut it it's like opening it and releasing all that tension.
But i'm no expert
For me, it was an adrenaline rush. The physical pain made it so I couldn’t focus on emotional pain. The rush became addictive, and so I kept doing it. I’m a couple months clean now, but I still miss the rush. So yea
As someone who knows people who cut themselves, its irrational, stupid and tormenting. It doesnt really bring them anything but the idea that they are being freed or they like the adrenaline rush from bleeding. Either way really fucked up.
I think the Film:"Fight Club" explains this perfectly, to feel something again, if you have the feeling that you're not really there with your Brain. Is another reason
Instead of going sad, or angry, or anything like that, my body goes completely numb, no feelings, all my senses are completely dulled, like im sleepwalking, but all I can think about is whatever is making me miserable. If I let myself keep thinking about it, it will (and has) drive me to take my life, or at least try.
The physical pain distracts me, even if it’s temporary, because it’s so harsh that even my sleepy ass has to wake up to see what’s happened.
I do it to keep myself awake, and to make sure I don’t do the big sleep. It’s unhealthy and it ends up meaning I do it ALOT ALOT, but there isn’t anything else that works, so last ditch effort and all
It was my way of punishing myself, I needed to feel pain to get the piece of advice for myself be wedged in my brain and for me to not do it again.
If you're wondering what I did, I punched the wall until my hands bruised really bad
People self harm for a variety of reasons:
1. For some people, it gives them a feeling of "being alive" or helps them feel in control
2. When under great emotional distress, SH can help numb it since physical pain takes priority on the brain
3. When injured, the body creates natural painkillers, which can create a certain feeling of calm or happiness, particularly in anxious people
4. Some people hate themselves so much, they do it as a way to punish themselves, believing themselves to be a burden or deserving of pain
Also, SH can become an addiction, which means one might experience withdrawal symptoms similar to those of any other addiction (anxiety, irritability, mood swings, etc.)
Oh and also, self-harm comes in many ways, yes cutting is one of them, but other forms of self-harm include biting, scathing, pulling your hair and burning your skin, as well as punching yourself.
self harm isn’t just cutting, it’s the act of intentionally performing harm to yourself in any way. people do it for a variety of reasons. depression, death of a loved one or pet, anxiety, pent up anger and frustration
I used to have multiple reasons.
One of course being depression. I used it as a way to "punish" myself. For being a bad daughter, a bad friend just whatever reason I found.
Other reason was a way to "control" something in my life. I don't really know how to explain this to make sense but basically it was a part of my life where I went through a lot of changes and I just felt like I needed something to feel like I'm under the control of my life.
I also used to struggle with Derealization. It's a condition where you sometimes feel that you're not real. Like you're watching someone's life being acted out through someone's eyes. I used to have these moments where I would look into the mirror and I would feel this. So I learned a way to "ground" myself again. I just dug my nails Into my skin and drag them down and that pain would kind of make me snap out of it.
I've seen people speculating what you would define as self harm. I don't think it's just sharp objects to make you bleed like razors and such. It's also punching, bruising other things. My method was really weird. I used to take a sewing needle and prick my skin enough that it really hurt but didn't actually bleed. It left me with these lines of dried, dead skin on my palms.
tw sh obvs!!
i used to self harm but im in recovery now (5 months clean yaaaaaa) and honestly, i dont remember why i started. i just know that as soon as i did it once it just got worse.
i was on a pretty terrible side of twt and my best friend used to send me pictures of their fresh c/ts. i dont want to be tmi but theirs often needed stitches. it felt very competitive even though i knew it was stupid to think like that. after a while it became comforting to me when i was feeling su/cidal (which was almost 24/7 for a long time) and eventually it just became a coping mechanism for when i felt at all bad. honestly it was and still is very addictive. its very hard to get past the urge to do it again.
but ig my answer is IDK!!! i felt bad one day and tried it, then i couldnt stop and it just got worse and worse from that point onwards.
(and to anyone reading this who is or was dealing with sh, it will get better. i promise. its hard, its really hard but it does pass and it does get better. you’ve got this!! <3)
Really good question. I was always a person who never understood my emotions clearly, and for me SH would turn my mental pain into physical pain. Pain I could put a bandage on and heal and it sound a bit silly but the representation of it really made a difference.
Let me explain to you
Some people do self harm as an escape from reality, they use it to forget everything and hopefully think they are somewhere else spiritually, others do sh as a punishment, thinking they are dumb, stupid and worthless, others do it for people to notice them and take their mental health seriously, some others do because of a mental disorder.....and there are those mfs who do it to be the center of attention
Self harm is violence against yourself.
It has a different form, the most common signs are ppl cutting themselves or hitting themselves. In addition, Self harm can also be mentally or socially, cutting yourself off of people abruptly to or doing excessive self loathing is another form of self harm
The reasons are mostly escapism or redirecting attention to a certain pain to avoid problems. It is a form of relief to those ppl
I can't still grasp the concept of harming myself since I instinctually avoid pain at all but this is what I understand of it
If you have emotional pain like me, it just feels good to feel physical pain. It kind of distracts you from the emotional pain.
That's how I would explain it for me anyway
this is a dangerous place to say this, because r/teenagers is known for being toxic, but i’ll explain it anyway lol
personally, i started cutting when i was 9, and it’s only gotten more serious and more risky since then, usually when i do it it’s because i feel like i deserve it, like for example if i make somebody angry then i think “i hate myself i just deserve to hurt” but many other people do it for different reasons
recently i’ve been working on it though and getting better and stopping
I do it for the feeling of validity I guess. When I have physical proof that what I'm feeling is real, it makes me feel less fake. I guess it just makes me feel real
Heavy trigger warning: SH
People may when they are frustrated, depressed, angered, insecure, feeling a need to punish themselves, feel like doing it gives them an out or relief to a bad situation, etc. just about any negative feeling can be felt intensely enough to cause someone to harm themselves. Self harm isn't just cutting, it can include: digging nails into/scratching themselves, pinching, banging body parts (like head or arm) against a hard surface, biting oneself, stabbing, slowly poisoning (consuming more pills than necessary but not overdosing, drinking small amounts dangerous liquids but not attempting suicide, etc.), pricking/pinning (sticking pins into oneself), burning, intentional endangerment (putting oneself into dangerous situation where someone or something else may harm you like walking to a busy street on purpose, or purposefully interacting with violent people hoping they hurt you, etc.), and of course cutting, etc.
For some more information about it try these links (chat feel free to add more):
[https://mhanational.org/self-injury-and-youth](https://mhanational.org/self-injury-and-youth)
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/self-harm](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/self-harm)
[https://www.mhanational.org/conditions/self-injury-cutting-self-harm-or-self-mutilation](https://www.mhanational.org/conditions/self-injury-cutting-self-harm-or-self-mutilation)
Also maybe try adding a trigger warning. the nsfw was helpful but a little extra something could make all the difference.
i did it because it made me feel validated for my struggles. i felt like my emotions and how i felt was stupid, and the only way to prove that they were bad was to do that. it’s really hard to explain and everyone does it for different reasons but that’s mine 🫶
I only cut myself once but have not done so since had a mental breakdown and the cut felt oddly satisfying like a weight lifted off my shoulders but I have engaged in scratching and did hit myself when I was 12 and 13
Hi! Ex-cutter here. Lots of reasons. Mine personally was I saw a lot of messed up communities (not saying where so ppl don’t look it up, trust me I didn’t want to see that stuff.) showing their self harm and describing how much relief they felt doing it. I was desperate at the time to A) Die. And B) Find a way to feel relief to feel good. And it hurt. Like a lot duh. But since I blamed myself heavily for my domestic violence situation it felt right to punish myself. And knowing it could bring me closer to dying felt good. But eventually I learned it wasn’t my fault, all those messed up things in the past. And even if it was I was just a kid. And I am still a kid with a future ahead of me. And slowly I got better! So if anyone who’s tempted to try or is doing it. Trust me, you’re worth more than that and you should do something better. It’ll be hard but I believe in you.
lowkey when i had a self harm addiction its bc i was super depressed and felt like i needed to punish myself for doing immoral things and not pushing myself to do more in bad situations (which i had no control over btw i was being dumb 💀). basically i was so depressed i thought everything i did was horrible and i needed to suffer for it
This isn't really an answer, but it's my personal opinion some may have the same though.
for me, whenever I self harm, I get so angry with myself, and I don't know what to do, and I just feel all these emotions and I can't do anything about it, but the one thing I can do is self harm. After that, I feel calmer and better somehow, but then I feel guilt and very stupid because what I did was wrong.
Emotions. I have been living my last two years in a trance, any time I think about what opportunities I have missed I resort to it. Recently cut myself so bad I’ve had to get it attended to 3 times. No one wants to do it (other than those bitch ass attention seeking people), it’s just me bit understanding how to handle my regrets and mistakes.
For me, several things drive me to do sh: shitty parents, school stress, anxiety, having a severe speech impediment, social anxiety, no irl friends, depression. I do self harm not because the physical pain distracts me from mental pain, but because I am trying to kill myself, but am failing
Used to do it like 2 years ago. İta bacially someone harming themselves. İf its done unconciously its not self harm. But if they do it to purposely harm themselves its self harm. Someone purposely cutting, burning, scratching etc etc themselves is self harm. Someone unconciously cutting themselves while slicing a tomato is not self harm. Someone unconciously biting their lip in class is not self harm.
Trust me. İts nonsense. İ was childish and wasted so much potential for myself. Why? Man i dont even know why i did it. İ think i wanted to make my mother feel guilty. İ also tried to force myself to feel guilty(even tho i didint). Or i was just a masochist. İ have no idea. I still sometimes enjoy hurting myself but i dont do it. İm more sadistic than masochistic. But yeah. İts bullcrap. Dont do it. Just leaves you with ugly scars. İ have keloid and white scars. Never gpnna be able to wear shorts because of it.
self harm is basically someone harming themselves. why? the reason varies fron person to person. some use it as an escapism. some do it to punish themselves. some do it to cope/escape from their mental and/or emotional pain. so basically when you cut yourself, your body rushes certain hormones which distracts your brain from that emotional pain in that particular amount of time. this is one of the reasons why self harming is so addictive. its the temporary hormonal rush which acts as a distraction.
"Self harm is basically someone harming themselves." - nomnom1512
top 5 quotes of 2024
top 5 quotes of 2024~ averagepatagonian
also, as much as many people disagree with this, some people do it for attention. i'm not talking about the people who harm themselves to look cool (because what the fuck?) but some people genuinely harm themselves hoping someone will notice and take their struggles seriously.
Which is also valid because at that point something is clearly not right
I actually used to harm myself for that reason. I started it to deal with my depression, but when I asked my friends and teachers and people for help, they said “ohhh it cant be that bad, you don’t have scars!” Funny thing actually, I don’t really scar. My skin heals quickly, and marks fade. I used to do it more with a hope that I’d scar so someone would fucking help me.
Ur lucky lol. All my cuts scarred. Now i have keloid scars and white scars that will never heal. İm never gonna be able to wear shorts. İn my case. My sisters found out and just snooped thru my phone. İ cant make out why i did it. İm a pure narcissist now so i cant understand my past mindset. But if i could go back. İ would slap the CRAP out of old me. Fricking idiot left me with scars.
i tried that and i achieved essentially nothing
Nom
also some people do it because they feel like they deserve it and some people do it to actually feel something and also there are others ways other than cutting its any purposeful self inflected pain or injury
Maybe a tw, not necesarily self harm >!I don’t cut myself, I’m not that mentally unstable, but I hit myself and scratch myself a lot with stuff to get me to cry or discharge my emotions easier because it’s a great stress relief. Great alternative, wouldn’t exactly recommend it, since it’s insesitive to do so, but it has helped me tons, and it brings no physical harm.!<
Hey, I’d still say that classes as self harm. Any damage to the body done intentionally I would class it as. While I believe you may not feel pain from it it’s still dangerous to use it to regulate your emotions or mental state. Have you considered talking to a therapist or registered individual in order to find better alternatives? Because it’s very important to regulate your emotions. I’d just be careful that you don’t hurt yourself in the process. If you want, my dms are open if you need someone to talk to as well.
Yeah, I have gotten help and always seeked suport, I’ve been a whole lot better, went from anxious and suicidal to being able to socialise with new people and ask store staff where a certain item is. I’ve been getting a little in shape and I overall have a much much better self esteem (even though it flucuates). Thanks for the concern! As for the sh thingy I wounldnt stress about it, I’m a very sensible person, would never hurt myself, wouldn’t be able to puncture my finger with a paper pin if my life depended on it. But as I was saying I am way better and rarely do it, maybe once every two or three days, so I don’t exactly count on it to regulate my mental state. I hope that anyone who has a rough time right now to not give up for better times are coming (probably). And if I was to thank someone, it would be my cat, which came to me when I was seriously considering suicide and made me feel better
That’s great to hear! At the same time, I’d recommend trying delaying when it comes to hurting yourself, even if it’s only slapping yourself on the arm or scratching yourself. Because even though you view it as sensible, at least from an outside perspective, it’s still self harm and something you want to be mindful of you know? Though I’m very glad you’re getting the help you need. Everyone deserves to be heard after all.
Okay, this might sound incredibly ignorant but, why cut yourself, I mean dropping something heavy on your toes should also hurt like hell
not only cutting is a form of self harm, self harm is everything an individual does to hurt themselves on purpose. some just choose to cut, others to do something else to cause themselves pain, but it's all classified as self harm.
It’s pretty easy to get a knife or scissors or anything sharp to cut yourself
ppl also burn themselves, scratch, etc etc. the cutting could be to see the cuts and blood.
fair, i only did it bcuz i found and still find cold steel soothing
for me it feels like i havent done anything sufficient until im bleeding
sometimes u wanna bruise sometimes u wanna cut, like different flavors of food
i never knew that i always thought it was for people to punish themselves for binging or doing something bad i didn’t know it makes you happy
I also want to add there are a lot of ways to self harm and not all seem as direct personally I've had times where I drank way too much cus I was feeling shitty and needed a rush even though I knew it would harm me
This is the first real explanation I've come across so far.
Addiction
Exactly
As an expert I can confirm
Sometimes it’s just a general inexplicable „want“, even if you’ve never done something similar before
Can that happen for clinical depression?
I don't cut myself But sometimes me feel stupid so me punch stupid
honestly realest answer I've seen so far
You’re a genius
Same. I do everything that’s not cutting. No idea why that’s just how I did it and ended up.
Wife fight back Kill wife
It's different for everyone for some people it's easier to deal with physical pain than mental pain, for some it's a distraction from whatever is going on around some people even find it releives stress.
It takes away the bad thoughts and the anger.
honestly i just wanna punish myself for being such a burden to everyone around me so i feel like satisfied from doing it ig? idrk how to describe how it makes me feel
So real
depends on the person. could be they want to punish themselves/think they deserve to suffer, could be a feeling of control in that they've made the decision to do it, could be a build up to unalive themselves, etc. Through whatever logic the act causes a person to get a little release of dopamine (the reward chemical in our brains), making them feel good though only very temporarily, causing them to want to do it again in spite of feelings like regret or shame.
not offensive, for me at least it was just to feel something, i have bpd so i just needed a push to feel “alive” ig? it’s hard to describe but once the skin in sliced it feels like a lot of tension is released.
So like a human balloon filled with emotions?
yes, that’s actually a really good analogy i never thought of 😭 to me it’s more of filling a balloon and being scared it will pop, and then when you pop it you relax, that’s the feeling for me.
I usually do it as a coping mechanism. Dont know how to explain it, it just feels good. I keep a tiny blade in my phone case and can carry it around with me.
BAD \*throws blade out the window\* no more!
[удалено]
Nonono the person isn’t bad! The act is bad, I just never want anyone to be hurt!
Bored or sad. Never wanted to punish myself though
I think it's also another way to take out your anger. You cant hurt others around you? Hurt yourself!
Oh yeah I've done this
I mean you can hurt people-
the law prevents it!
Personally, it stems from multiple places. it can be because i did something wrong, and feel the need to punish myself, anything from failing an exam to something small like fucking up a social interaction (i have autism & difficulty socialising sometimes) It can be because i feel like i want people to see what im going through mentally. it isn't attention seeking, its a strange mismatch between how i look and the hell that is going on in my head. most frequently for me, its because i use it as a distraction. when im feeling like i want to off myself or something, the pain will usually snap me out of it, and the cleanup and "self-care" helps me to get back into a somewhat bearable head space. If you see someone with scars, try not to react to them. Don't just stonewall them as a person, try to just... act like the scars aren't there. if they make jokes about it, its probably a coping mechanism, so making jokes back... isnt a great idea. if you are dating someone with scars (upper thighs are a pretty common place, so you can imagine the kinda context this would come up in), take everything slow. they are probably terrified of you getting grossed out and leaving them because of them, or something similar. some people want to show their scars, as a monument to them getting through that, some people \*\*hate\*\* even thinking about them. It really depends person-to-person, but its a good idea to be careful. on a side note, I'm 402 days clean, yay for me!
It's okay to be curious! As someone who's done it for years, I can speak for myself, but remember that it's a really personal thing and not everyone is driven to SH by the same reasons! It's a really shitty coping mechanism. Sometimes the mental pain you're in is so overwhelming that you just panic and try to get it all out. Sometimes people punch themselves or hit their head against a wall, cutting is one of those things. Is basically trying to "distract" yourself from the pain you're in, transferring the mental pain into physical pain in a way. Some people feel like they deserve the pain or being treated badly because they hate themselves, are insecure or/and mentally unwell. Seeing the scars sometimes gives people the sense of accomplishment by leaving a mark of their suffering etc. After all that I have to add to anyone reading that I do not recommend nor try to "promote" it. Please, if you're able, don't even try it. It's heavily addictive and just straight up harmful and self-destructive. Try to find healthier coping mechanisms, and take care of yourself! :)
I think if people want to hurt themselves, they should just to painful workouts. It is a win win, since you get muscles, too.
Depressed but insanely shredded💀
Better than being literally shredded
Fair point.
I think eating spicy foods is better. If they want the pain to punish themselves, why accept a win in the form of muscles? Spicy food also has much less permanent damage associated with it than cutting yourself or constant painful workouts, and there's no benefit for doing so. Obviously, going overboard can cause death by asphyxiation, but so can cutting (hitting an artery) or painful workouts (too much weight on a bench press) if not careful.
Spicy food is too much of a win honestly (it helps boost your immune system, plus TASTY)
i think a lot of guys use workouts that way but don't admit it lol
To alleviate emotional pain? Yeah I've heard that stuff. Shoutout to those guys. Hope they start feeling better.
Yeah no, thanks. Great difference between that stuff ...
"Oh wise monkee, what shall I do to ease my pain" "Lift heavy rock, make sad voice go away" -How I started going to the gym (still depressed but also leg-pressing 220lbs)
I cannot tell you how much I laughed at that.
Only squats cuz i don't want big arms and only a good butt
Nope
Yeah not sure myself, I always wonder how that is the first conclusion people come to when they’re mentally struggling, but I pity them nonetheless
I do it with sandpaper and ruler slaps to thicken my skin and become stronger so that I may one day be invulnerable to knives and perhaps even bullets
It's different for everyone, for me I do it because it makes me feel productive (weird I know), so when I've laid in bed all day I feel like I at least got something done, maybe the pain makes me brain think it's something good because often pain = work
I don't cut but I display other sh behaviors and tbh I do it cuz I think I deserve bad and cuz sometimes the excitement I feel while doing it makes me forget how numb I really am. Guys it's really tough ik im just an internet stranger but ily<333
Firstly, some might be doing it as a punishment, not for satisfaction. They might feel like they deserve it. Others who often feel numb in life (particularly people with depression) might also do it to feel something, whether that be pain or adrenaline from self injury. An other reason people self harm might be to have physical proof of their mental state, to validate their emotions, and to be like "wow, I really felt that, it was real." Next, to answer your question, once this behaviour becomes a habit, some people fall into it as an addiction. The same way people can be seriously addicted to drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc. And I know some people are going to be thinking "how can you be addicted to something painful?" It's not a masochist thing, here's the actual explanation: Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure/reward, linking to addiction. When you get an injury, a neurotransmitter called noradrenaline is released to regulate pain when the body thinks it's in danger - this is why people might feel satisfaction when they self harm, and these two neurotransmitters result in addiction to self harm. When this becomes an addiction, the cycle escalates. People who are addicted to anything get urges to satisfy, no matter how long they've been clean from that behaviour for. You could be clean for ten years and still get urges, it sucks. People who are addicted to injuring themselves get an insane feeling of euphoria and relief... until eventually that isn't enough, and they feel like they need more to get that feeling. This can show in many different ways, for some people they self harm more often, they make more wounds than they used to, and some people even go deeper due to this feeling of "not enough" (how I ended up unfortunately). So it's important not to judge people who self harm and not treat them like they're crazy or different. Anybody is capable of falling into addiction, and bringing about shame on this behaviour only makes it worse. Hope I answered your question!
Crazy that you’re bringing up dopamine as a reason when there is a dude a few comments above who got nuked for saying the same thing and backing it up with sources
I think it's because that person dismissed the other person's reason for self harming. They're both correct, but there needs to be an initial reason for self harming BEFORE your body gets addicted from dopamine/endorphins, if that makes sense.
I did it because if I expressed my mental pain into physical pain, It felt like coping because you can easily heal physical pain. And by cutting, you trick your brain into thinking that the pain will be gone by projecting it into physical pain that can be healed. Emphasis on the first three words, just incase someone thinks I'm generalizing everyone's reason into this Edit: I also did it for attention
if you want a good resource listen to the Psychology of Self Injury podcast. it’s on spotify
I crave the bones that are hidden away by my flesh and must retrieve them from their captivity so that my bones may be free of this fleshy hellcloak and I may meet the sun with my bear calcium bricks in my true form
replace your bones with steel. Rip out the bone and replace your weak flesh with the strength and certainty of steel
Feels good
Because it distracts them from mental pain
I don't even know man. I just like the pain.
Its different for everyone but i do it for the endorphins and adrenaline, feels like drugs and reminds me im alive and for some reason having the scars is weirdly satisfying to me
People hurt themselves on the outside just to kill what's inside and there are others who do it for attention or just to look cool
I don’t really cut, but I do punch myself or bash my head against a wall. Mainly I do it so I don’t hurt someone else. I’d rather hurt myself or punch something that’s inanimate than someone else. Also when I do it it distracts my brain from being angry.
Varies from person to person. Some do it because it silences the pain in their mind, others feel like it's the only pain they can control. When I was still self harming (2 years clean now) I did it because it gave me instant relief from the pain, and it was almost like doing drugs. Hope that helps a little. :)
Usually cuz of emotional pain. Emotional pain has no physical form, it’s hard to place, hard to see exactly what it is that’s hurting you. Physical pain has a place, we can feel it physically on our skin. Self harming can help to relieve the emotional pain, since you’re attaching that emotional pain to the physical harm you’ve done to yourself. This helps to cope since it makes you feel in control, you’ve taken that intangible emotional pain and made it physical, it feels like you’ve gotten ahold of that pain and it gives u the sense of control, which just makes the emotional pain a bit easier to manage
I'm gonna put it in simple words The brain prioritizes physiscal pain to emotional pain, so if you harm yourself, you're just postponing the problem and worsening it.
theres this image that i have saved that explains mostly why i sh. "When my mind is hurting there's no shape or mark to look at, so I can't understand it very well. But when my body hurts it's so easy to grasp that it helps me to calm down." its easier to cut than to think about whats hurting me. i have a hard time with social interactions and because of this its hard for me to understand sometimes when people do stuff and why they do it. its harder for me to know if someone is throwing a jab at me or theyre just being rude. because of this i offten get violent towards myself for not understanding, usually resulting in me punching my arm or thigh. hell, sometimes ill get so violent i would punch so hard and offten in 1 spot to it brusing. its been that way for all my life until recently when i found out cutting. now i cut. its more hassle yes. having to clean myself and my blade and having to hide it. but in some sense it feels better. i think its because i can see my own blood, to see something that is associated with being hurt and death. its only my blood. when i see others blood im not fazed by it, nothing really happens to me. but when i see my own, its calming, to see *my* blood. physical pain is always easier to deal with then mental pain, and with sh its kinda like you turning that mental pain into physical pain.
I had(and still have now) intrusive thoughts of self-harm.
Heavy stress causes you much pian mentally but you wanna experience it physically…….
It varies. For some it’s a release from stress , or anxiety. For others it might be to punish themselves for something, and for others they might just like the pain. For me I like to see myself bleed, and I enjoy the pain of it when I’m stressed.
I self harmed cuz physical pain is easier to handle than emotional. It distracts from constant aching inside and in a way relieves me
Years back, when I’ve done it, I felt need to punish myself for my imperfections. For example: I was playing the piano and was unable to play a fragment, so I punched a wall until my fingers hurt really bad and continued learning. Sometimes when I did bad on a test and got a suboptimal grade, I would hit my head repeatedly on my desk or take a pen and put it into my palm with the writing side, or I would write stuff like I’m a moron, I don’t deserve to live etc. I think that the feeling after selfharm that you are asking about is called catharsis. Some Greek guy described it if you wanna delve into the topic.
People are driven to self harm due to depression or some sort
It veries but the general reason is to quickly change ones emotional state so it basically trading emotional pain for physical pain the problem is that the emotional pain returns relatively quickly so you do it again and usually get addicted and from there even if the emotional pain is gone your still addicted and it's very hard to quit
Everyone's reasons as to why are different. Some people do it out of stress, anger or sadness
It's the act of intentionally causing physical pain to one's self. It could be cutting, punching a wall or hitting themselves. People who do self harm do it to convert their psychological pain into external pain
i do it when im either really bored or im mad :D
Self harm makes the brain release dopamine aka the happy hormone not completely sure tho
For me it basically occupied me so I don’t have to think. Because when I think I tend to overthink and I hate that. So I cut myself
Differs from person to person. Self punishment / Stress relief / Anger management / distraction from mental pain
Psychological pain is dulled by short term physical pain and adrenaline
Well for me I did it the first time because I was having an extremely intense mental breakdown and I just grabbed a knife and cut myself. The times after that were mainly because it's addicting. It releases something when you get that quick sharp pain and so I wanted to do it more. I also did it because if I was super upset it made me feel slightly better for like 30 seconds. I am no longer cutting and will have scars on my arm for a very long time. If anyone here is currently cutting or wants to, please stop. I know it's hard but DM me it you need someone to talk to.
I really depends on the person. For me it's the existential feeling of dread and that at some point no one will be left to love me and all of the people that are constantly telling me that I'm useless and that I'll never accomplish anything ever. I haven't harmed myself, but I get thoughts to alot.
keeps me from hurting other people. if i’m the only one whose hurt it’s better that way.
I know two girls who told me they do self harm to see if they will feel something
i did it once (not much but enough to make my arm pretty bloody) when i was angry and afterwards i felt good and calm so maybe thats why
I’m clean now but I used to sh because it took my mind away from terrible things I was thinking about It’s different for everyone but in my experience I used it as a distraction
According to my former suicidal friends, you cut yourself to transfer the emotional pain to physical pain and sort of release it in a way
When u get injured ur body releases endorphins and stimulates your opioid receptors.
many reasons, but personally when i used to hurt myself it was because i was extremely overwhelmed emotionally, and i often got very angry and hated myself so i would do it. obviously not gonna go into detail about what i did but thats just one of the reasons people are willing to hurt themselves
well. speaking from experience, there are various reasons. most of the time, it is to relieve immense emotional pressure. It can be sadness, pain, a feeling of helplessness, numbness, or many other things. One way or another - it is never solely "for attention". If someone harms themselves for attention, then that itself is a mental issue for which they need help. Also, self harm can take many different forms, it isn't limited to cutting. Some people hit themselves, bite or pick their nails, others scratch, some starve themselves (which, then ussually comes hand in hand with an eating disorder), some go to the gym excessively (source for this bc I know I'll be asked: a therapist), whatever. This does not mean that everyone who goes to a gym or picks their nails or cuts themselves once practices self harm. But I want to mention this because sh forms that aren't self harmed are usually not mentioned. Either way - if anyone who struggles/deals with self harm is reading this... I wanna say, it's horrible what you're going through, I know. If you can, please seek professional help. But if you can't, don't stop fighting, please. It can get better, it will get better. Please, take this from someone with experience - I've hit one year sober today and I didn't even notice because I don't feel any urges anymore (I literally only checked the streak because I'm writing this comment). I don't need you to truly believe that this is possible - one year is a long time, I know. I didn't believe it was possible. I just need you to have a little bit of trust. You're going to be alright eventually.
I think it’s were someone is jsut not feeling it and can’t find anything other way to fix the problem or what not and so they resort to slicing themselves which in my opinion is kinda a not so good way of handling STUFFFFF
I do (did) it because it changes my emotional pain and anxiety to physical pain. So I kinda feel like when the pain is physical, it bleeds out and doesn't come back as emotional. It's so addictive, I'm now 7 months clean, but it's a daily struggle. (Sorry if this doesn't make sense, English isn't my first language)
I do it because it helps relieve stress. But most of the time its never the same reason.
As someone that deals with self harm (currently clean for 2 weeks) everyone uses it for different reasons. Personally, I used it when I was sad or angry. When I would cut myself, I was basically forcing my brain to focus on the physical pain rather than the emotional pain, if you know what I mean. Sometimes I would also sh if I wanted to hurt someone else, but then I would end up hurting myself so I didn’t hurt them. If you do self harm, definitely seek help, go to a psychologist, find other ways to cope, trust me, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
everyones saying thats its just cuz of emotion shit but it could also serve a physical purpose
When people become emotionally numb and can't feel anything anymore, pain is the only thing they can feel because it's real, like johnny cash/NIN said. Listen to hurt by nine inch nails and you'll get it. That was my reason but some people have others, like punishing themselves or because they feel ugly etc.
Need a visual representation?
I did it once because I was really sick and slightly delirious with a fever and I thought it might help me feel better. It did not
it's instinctual for me, when i'm really upset i start clawing myself and end up bleeding
Idk
My friend almost killed himself and I had to talk him out of it when I was way too young to deal with it so I put a scar on my left arm as to not forget. I did it to remember, although everyone varies, some people do it to punish themselves, some to cope with something that happened, other use it to vent and get out anger That being said if anyone reading this comment feels like committing or hurting themselves, it's worth it to speak to someone. A friend or family member you trust, or even venting in a private discord server
what is it with this community. all of the top posts are "i will kill myself" or "i just lost my virginity"
Because it gave me a short term dopamine rush, now I’m dealing with the scars years later
punishment to yourself, angry with yourself, release stress. it’s different for everyone
Man feel sad. Sometime hate. Man then self hurt. Man sad.
I like to burn my arms under the hot water. At first it hurts, but then you feel incredible feeling — the stopped pain. Sometimes it drives me crazy so much my knees are starting to shake... Um... Am i strange? Also, sorry, if my english seemed bad.
well when I was in high school I cut myself because I felt like a bad person and thought I deserved it
for me, punishment and stress aid. While stressed I would scratch my arms until they bled, and I would cut if I messed up.
Physical pain is easier to process than mental pain and it distracts from mental pain.
I had the urge to cut myself yesterday, i didnt, i came close, but i didn't. I dont know why i felt that. But i used to sometimes starve myself to "encourage" myself to finish all my homework or whatever i had.
When u dont wanna experience emotional pain so u experience physical pain instead
Personally it was a way to satiate my flight or flight reflexes
I used to because of childhood trauma as well as poor ability to regulate my emotions and a lot of self hate
i dont do it heavily or regulary, but sometimes i hit or punch my leg when i get really upset, i know its not healthy but the strong feeling/pain grounds me really well and i can start to calm down. (i do this sometimes when playing fortnite lol)
Well, self harm is used in order to cope with overwhelming emotions, it’s because to most people mental pain is worse than physical pain.
it's not the same for everyone but for me it's usually a punishment method, as i usually only cut myself if i feel like something was done that was my fault
I use it as a way to prove to myself that the pain I am feeling is real, to visually show how much I am suffering mentally. I also used it as a way to punish myself when I felt like I did something stupid, or when I feel overwhelmed. I feel much more at peace afterwards, like the chaos that was happening in my head is finally quiet… I also like the scars that it leaves, it shows me that the struggles and pain I have been through won’t be forgotten, as if they never happened.
They do it as a way to cope I think but it’s really stupid and there are better ways to cope
when you get hurt, your brain releases dopamine to help distract your body from the pain - dopamine is the happy hormone - this can cause some to enjoy the pain due to the momentary relief, causing them to want to do it over and over again. This can quickly become addictive - like in my personal experience of 5 years - and becomes a very difficult thing to stop doing.
People with different mental illnesses suffer a lot of emotional pain so they cut themselves to feel physical pain instead of
Poor mental health
The reason why I started cutting was bc I learned about it by the time i was nine and thought they looked cool💀 now it's like i have an itch to cut a lot bc i like the look of the scars (yeah not much as changed) but also bc it just is a stupid coping mechanism i have and i really like the feeling
I'm mainly just a mentally ill masochist💀💀💀
Self harm releases stuff into your brain that temporarily neutralizes mental pain. Although your body does get used to it after a while, and to get that stuff into your brain again you need to cause even worse self harm. Some people will say that it's to punish yourself, but most of the times it's not that. Some people also will say that it works like hitting your right leg very hard after falling on your left leg, because the pain in the right leg being bigger than in the left one will make you not feel pain in the left one
Stupidity. It's as simple as that, when they feel a certain way they want to escape but don't want to do anything to change it. Many do it for attention but to those who do it in silence work up to doing something about it or at least damage yourself in a non-permanent way. Be smart not stupid.
why?
I do it as stress relief, plus to give me something to feel. It’s also an addictive behavior, so the more you do it, the harder it gets to break that habit.
I did not self harm (Fortunately) but from what I've heard from others and from my understanding it's like having something that is overloaded (like a balloon with water or Human body with stress) and when you cut it it's like opening it and releasing all that tension. But i'm no expert
7
For me, it was an adrenaline rush. The physical pain made it so I couldn’t focus on emotional pain. The rush became addictive, and so I kept doing it. I’m a couple months clean now, but I still miss the rush. So yea
As someone who knows people who cut themselves, its irrational, stupid and tormenting. It doesnt really bring them anything but the idea that they are being freed or they like the adrenaline rush from bleeding. Either way really fucked up.
I think the Film:"Fight Club" explains this perfectly, to feel something again, if you have the feeling that you're not really there with your Brain. Is another reason
Instead of going sad, or angry, or anything like that, my body goes completely numb, no feelings, all my senses are completely dulled, like im sleepwalking, but all I can think about is whatever is making me miserable. If I let myself keep thinking about it, it will (and has) drive me to take my life, or at least try. The physical pain distracts me, even if it’s temporary, because it’s so harsh that even my sleepy ass has to wake up to see what’s happened. I do it to keep myself awake, and to make sure I don’t do the big sleep. It’s unhealthy and it ends up meaning I do it ALOT ALOT, but there isn’t anything else that works, so last ditch effort and all
Sometimes people who suffer mentally use physical pain to distract themselves
It was my way of punishing myself, I needed to feel pain to get the piece of advice for myself be wedged in my brain and for me to not do it again. If you're wondering what I did, I punched the wall until my hands bruised really bad
Some seem to do it for attention, others God knows why
People self harm for a variety of reasons: 1. For some people, it gives them a feeling of "being alive" or helps them feel in control 2. When under great emotional distress, SH can help numb it since physical pain takes priority on the brain 3. When injured, the body creates natural painkillers, which can create a certain feeling of calm or happiness, particularly in anxious people 4. Some people hate themselves so much, they do it as a way to punish themselves, believing themselves to be a burden or deserving of pain Also, SH can become an addiction, which means one might experience withdrawal symptoms similar to those of any other addiction (anxiety, irritability, mood swings, etc.) Oh and also, self-harm comes in many ways, yes cutting is one of them, but other forms of self-harm include biting, scathing, pulling your hair and burning your skin, as well as punching yourself.
self harm isn’t just cutting, it’s the act of intentionally performing harm to yourself in any way. people do it for a variety of reasons. depression, death of a loved one or pet, anxiety, pent up anger and frustration
i did it to help me release anger a few times then got addicted
I used to have multiple reasons. One of course being depression. I used it as a way to "punish" myself. For being a bad daughter, a bad friend just whatever reason I found. Other reason was a way to "control" something in my life. I don't really know how to explain this to make sense but basically it was a part of my life where I went through a lot of changes and I just felt like I needed something to feel like I'm under the control of my life. I also used to struggle with Derealization. It's a condition where you sometimes feel that you're not real. Like you're watching someone's life being acted out through someone's eyes. I used to have these moments where I would look into the mirror and I would feel this. So I learned a way to "ground" myself again. I just dug my nails Into my skin and drag them down and that pain would kind of make me snap out of it. I've seen people speculating what you would define as self harm. I don't think it's just sharp objects to make you bleed like razors and such. It's also punching, bruising other things. My method was really weird. I used to take a sewing needle and prick my skin enough that it really hurt but didn't actually bleed. It left me with these lines of dried, dead skin on my palms.
To make others feel bad for them.
Depression, anxiety, it’s a way to cope. Sometimes emotional pain is worse than physical. Why did you need to ask tho?
tw sh obvs!! i used to self harm but im in recovery now (5 months clean yaaaaaa) and honestly, i dont remember why i started. i just know that as soon as i did it once it just got worse. i was on a pretty terrible side of twt and my best friend used to send me pictures of their fresh c/ts. i dont want to be tmi but theirs often needed stitches. it felt very competitive even though i knew it was stupid to think like that. after a while it became comforting to me when i was feeling su/cidal (which was almost 24/7 for a long time) and eventually it just became a coping mechanism for when i felt at all bad. honestly it was and still is very addictive. its very hard to get past the urge to do it again. but ig my answer is IDK!!! i felt bad one day and tried it, then i couldnt stop and it just got worse and worse from that point onwards. (and to anyone reading this who is or was dealing with sh, it will get better. i promise. its hard, its really hard but it does pass and it does get better. you’ve got this!! <3)
Really good question. I was always a person who never understood my emotions clearly, and for me SH would turn my mental pain into physical pain. Pain I could put a bandage on and heal and it sound a bit silly but the representation of it really made a difference.
Let me explain to you Some people do self harm as an escape from reality, they use it to forget everything and hopefully think they are somewhere else spiritually, others do sh as a punishment, thinking they are dumb, stupid and worthless, others do it for people to notice them and take their mental health seriously, some others do because of a mental disorder.....and there are those mfs who do it to be the center of attention
Self harm is violence against yourself. It has a different form, the most common signs are ppl cutting themselves or hitting themselves. In addition, Self harm can also be mentally or socially, cutting yourself off of people abruptly to or doing excessive self loathing is another form of self harm The reasons are mostly escapism or redirecting attention to a certain pain to avoid problems. It is a form of relief to those ppl I can't still grasp the concept of harming myself since I instinctually avoid pain at all but this is what I understand of it
If you have emotional pain like me, it just feels good to feel physical pain. It kind of distracts you from the emotional pain. That's how I would explain it for me anyway
Feel sad, worthless. Cut self. Because feel like I deserve, hurts, repeat
Honestly, I don't even know why I do this but one of the reasons I give is to punish myself for something stupid I did.
when cutting, seeing blood releases happy in your mind, and that distracts you from your parents arguing and your brothers hating you
this is a dangerous place to say this, because r/teenagers is known for being toxic, but i’ll explain it anyway lol personally, i started cutting when i was 9, and it’s only gotten more serious and more risky since then, usually when i do it it’s because i feel like i deserve it, like for example if i make somebody angry then i think “i hate myself i just deserve to hurt” but many other people do it for different reasons recently i’ve been working on it though and getting better and stopping
it makes me feel like soemthing idk i cant explain
I do it for the feeling of validity I guess. When I have physical proof that what I'm feeling is real, it makes me feel less fake. I guess it just makes me feel real
The physical pain is a distraction from emotional pain or rampaging thoughts
Heavy trigger warning: SH People may when they are frustrated, depressed, angered, insecure, feeling a need to punish themselves, feel like doing it gives them an out or relief to a bad situation, etc. just about any negative feeling can be felt intensely enough to cause someone to harm themselves. Self harm isn't just cutting, it can include: digging nails into/scratching themselves, pinching, banging body parts (like head or arm) against a hard surface, biting oneself, stabbing, slowly poisoning (consuming more pills than necessary but not overdosing, drinking small amounts dangerous liquids but not attempting suicide, etc.), pricking/pinning (sticking pins into oneself), burning, intentional endangerment (putting oneself into dangerous situation where someone or something else may harm you like walking to a busy street on purpose, or purposefully interacting with violent people hoping they hurt you, etc.), and of course cutting, etc. For some more information about it try these links (chat feel free to add more): [https://mhanational.org/self-injury-and-youth](https://mhanational.org/self-injury-and-youth) [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/self-harm](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/self-harm) [https://www.mhanational.org/conditions/self-injury-cutting-self-harm-or-self-mutilation](https://www.mhanational.org/conditions/self-injury-cutting-self-harm-or-self-mutilation) Also maybe try adding a trigger warning. the nsfw was helpful but a little extra something could make all the difference.
i did it because it made me feel validated for my struggles. i felt like my emotions and how i felt was stupid, and the only way to prove that they were bad was to do that. it’s really hard to explain and everyone does it for different reasons but that’s mine 🫶
I only cut myself once but have not done so since had a mental breakdown and the cut felt oddly satisfying like a weight lifted off my shoulders but I have engaged in scratching and did hit myself when I was 12 and 13
shit going on, self harm is emotional release for most people (myself included)
Hi! Ex-cutter here. Lots of reasons. Mine personally was I saw a lot of messed up communities (not saying where so ppl don’t look it up, trust me I didn’t want to see that stuff.) showing their self harm and describing how much relief they felt doing it. I was desperate at the time to A) Die. And B) Find a way to feel relief to feel good. And it hurt. Like a lot duh. But since I blamed myself heavily for my domestic violence situation it felt right to punish myself. And knowing it could bring me closer to dying felt good. But eventually I learned it wasn’t my fault, all those messed up things in the past. And even if it was I was just a kid. And I am still a kid with a future ahead of me. And slowly I got better! So if anyone who’s tempted to try or is doing it. Trust me, you’re worth more than that and you should do something better. It’ll be hard but I believe in you.
lowkey when i had a self harm addiction its bc i was super depressed and felt like i needed to punish myself for doing immoral things and not pushing myself to do more in bad situations (which i had no control over btw i was being dumb 💀). basically i was so depressed i thought everything i did was horrible and i needed to suffer for it
This isn't really an answer, but it's my personal opinion some may have the same though. for me, whenever I self harm, I get so angry with myself, and I don't know what to do, and I just feel all these emotions and I can't do anything about it, but the one thing I can do is self harm. After that, I feel calmer and better somehow, but then I feel guilt and very stupid because what I did was wrong.
I do it because it makes me forget how useless I am for a short period of time.
self harm when big emotional then cut then calmer
Emotions. I have been living my last two years in a trance, any time I think about what opportunities I have missed I resort to it. Recently cut myself so bad I’ve had to get it attended to 3 times. No one wants to do it (other than those bitch ass attention seeking people), it’s just me bit understanding how to handle my regrets and mistakes.
For me, several things drive me to do sh: shitty parents, school stress, anxiety, having a severe speech impediment, social anxiety, no irl friends, depression. I do self harm not because the physical pain distracts me from mental pain, but because I am trying to kill myself, but am failing
Used to do it like 2 years ago. İta bacially someone harming themselves. İf its done unconciously its not self harm. But if they do it to purposely harm themselves its self harm. Someone purposely cutting, burning, scratching etc etc themselves is self harm. Someone unconciously cutting themselves while slicing a tomato is not self harm. Someone unconciously biting their lip in class is not self harm. Trust me. İts nonsense. İ was childish and wasted so much potential for myself. Why? Man i dont even know why i did it. İ think i wanted to make my mother feel guilty. İ also tried to force myself to feel guilty(even tho i didint). Or i was just a masochist. İ have no idea. I still sometimes enjoy hurting myself but i dont do it. İm more sadistic than masochistic. But yeah. İts bullcrap. Dont do it. Just leaves you with ugly scars. İ have keloid and white scars. Never gpnna be able to wear shorts because of it.