Why does a cutter cut

Vijayeta Sinh, PhD, owner of NYC Family Therapy , says children as young as 9 and 10, teens, college students, and even adults in their 40s and 50s cut. Kirsten began cutting when she was 13 years old after her father made an insensitive comment about her acne. Her self-esteem, she says, was already low. Penny, 36, first cut herself when she was 15 years old as a way of dealing with the emotional pain of having been raped by a family friend.

She cut when she was depressed and would shut down emotionally. SIRRR reports that self-harm can be cyclical. Someone may cut frequently and then stop for long periods before relapsing. After suffering physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her older brother, she cut herself from ages 11 to People who cut often describe a specific type of high, relief, connectedness, or sense of calm.

The euphoria Brandy describes may be attributed to endorphins the body releases when we get injured. Sinh explains. Another woman we spoke to, Ariel, 21, started cutting when she was 17 years old. I cut myself because I was bored. I justified my reasons and came up with excuses because I loved it.

An NPR article reports that cutting dates back to ancient Greece as a coping mechanism. Researchers also agree that rates of NSSI have increased over the last decade and a half , but studies on the topic are somewhat new and rates are hard to assess. Cutting can also affect younger children. Although Penny hid her own wounds and scars, her daughter began cutting a few years ago at age Movies and television shows may also play a role in the possible increased rate of cutting.

Their portrayals may spread the idea that this is normal behavior. Shauna says, "It starts when something's really upsetting and you don't know how to talk about it or what to do. But you can't get your mind off feeling upset, and your body has this knot of emotional pain. Before you know it, you're cutting yourself. And then somehow, you're in another place.

Then, the next time you feel awful about something, you try it again — and slowly it becomes a habit. Natalie, a high-school junior who started cutting in middle school, explains that it was a way to distract herself from feelings of rejection and helplessness she felt she couldn't bear. I guess part of me must have known it was a bad thing to do, though, because I always hid it. Once a friend asked me if I was cutting myself and I even lied and said 'no.

Sometimes self-injury affects a person's body image. Jen says, "I actually liked how the cuts looked. I felt kind of bad when they started to heal — and so I would 'freshen them up' by cutting again. Now I can see how crazy that sounds, but at the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable to me. I was all about those cuts — like they were something about me that only I knew. They were like my own way of controlling things. I don't cut myself anymore, but now I have to deal with the scars.

You can't force someone who self-injures to stop. It doesn't help to get mad at a friend who cuts, reject that person, lecture her, or beg him to stop. Instead, let your friend know that you care, that he or she deserves to be healthy and happy, and that no one needs to bear their troubles alone.

Girls and guys who self-injure are often dealing with some heavy troubles. Many work hard to overcome difficult problems. So they find it hard to believe that some kids cut just because they think it's a way to seem tough and rebellious.

Tia tried cutting because a couple of the girls at her school were doing it. So I did it once. But then I thought about how lame it was to do something like that to myself for no good reason. Next time they asked I just said, 'no, thanks — it's not for me.

If you have a friend who suggests you try cutting, say what you think. Why get pulled into something you know isn't good for you? There are plenty of other ways to express who you are. Lindsay had been cutting herself for 3 years because of abuse she suffered as a child.

She's 16 now and hasn't cut herself in more than a year. There are better ways to deal with troubles than cutting — healthier, long-lasting ways that don't leave a person with emotional and physical scars. The first step is to get help with the troubles that led to the cutting in the first place. Here are some ideas for doing that:.

Although cutting can be a difficult pattern to break, it is possible. Getting professional help to overcome the problem doesn't mean that a person is weak or crazy. Therapists and counselors are trained to help people discover inner strengths that help them heal. These inner strengths can then be used to cope with life's other problems in a healthy way.

Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is Cutting? Why Do People Cut Themselves? How Does Cutting Start? Here are some ideas for doing that: Tell someone. Cutters will seek out times and areas where they can cut themselves.

Mental healthcare professionals are always ready to help treat cutting disorders, but it may be difficult to convince your loved one to seek treatment. People who mutilate themselves are very secretive and do not want to share their actions with anyone. Staging an intervention is one of the most effective ways to approach someone suffering from a self-harming disorder. Intervention provides a setting where proper dialogue can begin between the team members and their loved one.

During an intervention, personal feelings and emotions can be expressed without worrying about damaging a relationship. Everyone participating knows the main goal is to help the cutter get the care she needs.

If you or a loved one struggle with cutting, we are here for you. Call our helpline, , 24 hours a day to speak to an admissions coordinator about available treatment options. On This Page: Why Cutting? Many people who cut themselves were abused in some way as a child.

Whether the abuse was sexual, physical or emotional, or a case of neglect. Teenagers are more likely to cut themselves. Self-harm often begins in the early teen years due to emotional ups and downs, peer pressure, loneliness and conflicts with authority figures. People who are self-critical and have many negative emotions are at increased risk of cutting.

Cutters tend to be more impulsive and have poor cognitive skills. Those who struggle with borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders are at a higher risk of cutting.