Self-harming

Anyone else out there do this sometimes?

 

i used to cause i thought that physical pain was alot better than emotional pain...then i stopped...i realised i had to find a more creative way of dealing with my pain...try something such as a diary or poetry or even talking to someone..even if it is a dog...self scarring is not worth it...

 

stop it.
life is too short

 

I used to do that, probably around 10 years ago it was. I would take my fingernails and rake them up and down my legs and arms until they were covered in scratches and would begin to bleed. I did this when I was extremely tense, stressed out, or depressed. I had a lot of self-hatred due to a poor self esteem and eating disorders so hurting myself seemed like a good thing to do to take out my aggression, unfortunately.

I don't know what made me stop, but I know I haven't done it in years and haven't had the desire to ever since.

Hugs to you girlfriend. Try and take that aggression and put it elsewhere, like in art or music, something creative or of that nature, but don't take it out on yourself. You don't deserve that sweetheart.

Much peace and healing...

 

No, but a former roommate used to do that. I don't know if it will make a difference, but from the standpoint of someone who cares & knows you're doing this, but can't do anything to prevent it, it sucks. I know, you're in pain or you wouldn't do it. But, you're hurting the ones who care about you, depending on how extreme you are with it -- if they're worried that you will nick a vein next time or leave big pools of blood on the coffee table (a mutual friend & my former roommate's former roommate had to deal with this, the girl had pretty much stopped by the time I moved in), that's obviously different than just relatively mild scratching (not to minimize this, as it is still pretty bad).

Have you talked to anyone about this, including why you are hurting? Have you considered (or are you already) seeing a counsellor, someone who may have a broader perspective on this than most of us here?

I hope you find some less harmful outlet for those feelings. Put it in a journal, put it in a painting, let it out in a mosh pit, whatever. Just try not to hurt yourself. Good luck.

 

Dawn_Sky, thanks for the kind words. I don't know why I do it. I don't cut myself or anything... it's bruises... I guess I'm under a lot of stress right now, and my nightmares have come back which isn't helping the sleep. *sigh*

Hippychickmommy, thanks for your support. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

Michael, what the hell is wrong with you?

 

You must spread some rep around before giving to Dawn_Sky again.
You must spread some rep around before giving to Hippychickmommy again.

Sorry, I tried. The thought is there though.

 

No, my self-harming does not extend out from the little spankings in the bedroom...

I would suggest that you seek professional help, on this one.

Good luck.

 

I agree man, Michael what the fuck is wrong with you. Its not cute! Its fucking painful, and sad.

I do, well I like to think 'did' but I dont know if its just a smooth patch, I hope so... I have some awful scars on my thighs and arms from slicing them with scissors.... any it made me feel so disgusted with myself....

I just sat in my shower thinking "oh god, I have made myself so ugly" and all I kept thinking was that I was never going to loose this, it will stay with me forever, and if I ever have another partner, than all those sweet first naked moments will be ruied with my problems....

I hope you can stop hun, and I hope I can too.

 

I used to... not a huge amount, and never left any scars.... I would bang my head against a wall (I'd be down sitting on the floor, back to the wall, just move my head back), dig fingernails into the palms of my hands, pull on my hair (without pulling it out)... hurrah for depression fits. I really did it mostly while crying uncontrollably to try and stop crying, not that it really helped.

and michael, doll... if you have nothing constructive to say please shush, hmm? Hugs don't help with this sort of shit, and I was a mild case.

 

Hey ihmurria, that's the same as me... no scars... I don't bang my head, I bang my arms/wrists/knees until I get big welts. They're easy to explain away, since I've always been so accident-prone.

 

When I was 13 I was in a mental ward and I shared a room with this girl who had cut herself to no end. Her arms were sliced all up and they had taken everything from her so she would not hang herself. She would tell me she could hang herself with her dress if she wanted. A close family member of mine had depression and would go through a cutting stage of the depresssion where she cut herself to punish herself for things that happened to her. she cut words all over her skin. Its very serious.

 

I was 13 when I began to self-harm. I felt like a failure because my parents were always so pushy, and I'd just started high school and was finding it very hard to cope with everything.

It's just the idea of making yourself hurt as much on the outside as you are on the inside, and also this whole control deal.

I stopped about a year after I started. No one ever found out, but for me - I don't know about anyone else - I did want someone to notice. No one ever did, but then when I started my second year of high school, and things were so much easier, I just made a conscious effort to stop, and began writing poetry instead. Every time I felt like cutting myself, I'd write a piece of poetry.

It's hard, it's always hard, but you will get through it. Just take each day at a time. And I can't stress enough how important it is that you tell someone. Lots of people, including myself, don't, and that makes it so much harder than it has to be. You aren't alone. Remember that.

 

These stories are so sad
I did it for a while, not too long ago, although it wasn't really self harming as much as it was experimenting i guess. I just wanted to see what it was like to bleed, but I never got to that point. I have some scars now that I absolutly hate, one on my forearm, hand, chest, wrists and all the fingers on my right hand. While I was doing this the only ones that knew were my two best friends, and one of them started doing it to herself, to kind of 'experiment' like I was. I hated seeing her cuts and I begged her to stop and I was scared that she would become addicted, because I was for a little while. This was all at the start of this year.
But recently the other friend did it to herself, but not as an experiment. She has a different personality, she competitive and she analyses things alot, but she is not open with her feelings and she can get down at the drop of a hat. My friend and I found the scars on her arm and still she hid them and wouldnt talk about it.
There was also another girl in out year group, about 3 years ago that cut herself, but for attention. From the outside there was nothing wrong with this girl, she had a great peronality, she was confident and good looking, but on the inside it was the opposite for some reason. She mad huge cuts on her legs and arms that could be seen by anyone at school because of out uniform. All of her friends around her reacted differently to how she wanted, and all she got was bad attention (like little negative comments as they waled past), and I dont think she had many people that would talk to her about it, if she would even listen. I tried but I was not a close frind with her so she wouldnt open up to me.
But I think that even if you are not a close friend of someone that you know is harming themselvs, you should try to help them because I think that evey little bit helps them to know that they do have people that care about them.

 

WTF!! It is not cute whatsoever! My husband used to cut himself and burn himself....before we started dating and for about 2 months when we first were together. He hasn't done it in 3 years. I tend to think it was more scary than fucking cute. I would cry and beg him to stop because he was hurting me as much or even more than he was hurting himself.

 

Thanks sugarmag... sorry to hear about your husband, but I'm glad to hear he hasn't done it in three years - maybe that's a good sign. Michael, I hope you're realizing how many people you've offended with your comment....

 

First of all, Michael, I'm not a dummy.
Second, people who think cutting is cute need psychological help.
Third, I never said I cut in the first place. I used the term "self-harm" which can mean any amount of things - you jumped to a conclusion. Who's the dummy now?
Fourth, how do you know that you know more about cutting than I do? What do you know about me? Nothing at all.
Fifth, I was not playing the victim to seek attention, I was looking for someone who knew what I was talking about.
Sixth, don't tell me what to do with my life. I don't like you, I don't like anything you have to say on this board, and you have no idea what is going on in my life, so don't pretend you do.
Seventh, I never tried to make cutting a big important thing. My post wasn't even about cutting, but you jumped to that conclusion because you're under the impression you're smarter than everyone else, when it's clear that you're not.

 

some people do it because they want to see themselves bleed to see if they are still alive..at that point its NOT CUTE. Its serious to think someone is in that state of mind and it's not cool to be calling someone with mental issues a dork when ridicule is probably part of how they got to that place in the first place.

 

So what if she cuts and is afraid to admit it..whats your point? Do you think your comments are helping eather way?

 

You might have a lot of experience on it, but there's a lot more than "cutting" that gets classified under self injury; and bruising is one of them.

http://www.selfinjury.com/sifacts.html