Why do people cut themselves?

[Carcharodon]

That is both horrifying and beautiful...

 

[Sandman138]

That is nothing. You should see the pics of the guy who got Vitruvian Man cut into his back.

 

[body_crumbles]

I used to be a cutter, and the reason I did it was because I had a lot of emotional pain on the inside. To get rid of all that inner turmoil, I cut myself to distract my attention to physical pain because it was better than what I was feeling on the inside.

Some people do it for attention, others do it because it's cool, but some, like me, did it because we were hurting. Don't think all cutters are stupid, because we're not. We're just suffering and need some way to let it out. I've gotten help and I don't do it anymore and I'm glad I don't do it... I get tattoos instead now.

 

[lemmasaurus]

Scarification makes me want to cry just looking at it, and I am definitely not squeamish... I'm really excited to get my first tattoo, and even just outright gore does not gross me out. But I cannot imagine have a knife taken to my skin on purpose like that ;_;

Anyway, my idiot sister cut herself to make my mom feel bad (mom made her stay at my grandma's for a week because she got caught sleeping over at her boyfriend's when she was supposed to be at a friend's--oh yeah, she's 13) and it didn't work. Mom basically told my sister that if she killed herself, no one would miss her but herself. Which, with her recent behavior, isn't far off. I love her, but she can be ******ed sometimes.

 

[Logan's Runt]

I used to be a cutter, and the reason I did it was because I had a lot of emotional pain on the inside. To get rid of all that inner turmoil, I cut myself to distract my attention to physical pain because it was better than what I was feeling on the inside.

Some people do it for attention, others do it because it's cool, but some, like me, did it because we were hurting. Don't think all cutters are stupid, because we're not. We're just suffering and need some way to let it out. I've gotten help and I don't do it anymore and I'm glad I don't do it... I get tattoos instead now.

I would like to strongly state that tattoos are not always just a substitute for cutting. That is a stereotype that is way too prevalent. I've read too many psychological papers and news articles saying that getting tattoos is just another form of self harm and that all tattooed people are mentally unstable. (Piercing gets the same treatment)

You may want to be careful saying that in the future, as in most people's minds it just cements the stereotype.

 

[thedeadite]

I'm with Logan's Runt on this one. I used to cut, and LOVE getting tattooed but there was never a link there with me. Totally different practices for me. Tattooing for me was all about the art, along with marking significant times in my life (whether good or bad...alot of times to reference times that I had persevered through hard times and what helped me get there). Cutting was all about taking my attention of emotional problems and focusing it on something else. Thankfully I've learned to release emotional stresses in other ways.

Speaking of tattoos, I think it's time to stop into the shop and get more work.