Do I need to cut?

[teffie]

cutting...okay....speaking from expeirience here.

cutting IS in itself a need. a need for love, for help....for a release. i beleive when people say they need to cut, they are searching for another way to put their emotional pain. theyre searching for the release, a way to deal. they "need" to cut, basically saying they need to be releived of the pressure of emotional pain.

The "needs"...of a cutter are...strange. some people may not understand. sometimes cutters just want to cut. sometimes they just want to hurt abit, sometimes they want people to notice, they want to feel loved. sometimes, they feel theyve had a really bad/stressing...or emotionally stressed week or day, or whatever, and they need a release. something to hepl them bear. somtimes they want to end their pain.

sometimes, physical pain is easier to deal with than emotional pain. a cut is a statement:'' im hurting, i hurt. something is hurting me, and i dont know how to deal. im searching for a release. i feel unloved, i feel no one cares...i want someone to care or notice....no one does care and im hurting so much.the only thing that will help is to end it all.''

There IS a need to cut, it seems....ive had it. but....its ....an urge. cutting releases endorphins into the body, because it "hurts" the body sends out the bodys natural pain killer, endorphins...to stop it. this release makes you feel better....more relaxed, released, not tense. so this is what cutters ae searching for when the "need" arises. so there is an urge, a need....a need for a release. when emotions reach overwhelming, or unbearable, levels, someone MAY cut to put that pain into real. emotional pain is inside the body, if someone says they hurt, you ask: "yeah, where?? theres nothing there"...some people may not understand exactly, or at all, the emotional pain. so that person conveys it physically. but...you can always tell the...danger, ill put it. like, if someone is REALLY hurting...there will be more, deeper....HIDDEN. if someone is crying out, they will be scratches, barley there, or not too deep, either many light ones or maybe a FEW minimal, not too deep....but all in all cutting is a serious problem. no matter how deep or how light, if theres marks there Is something wrong. anyways. thats what i think. hope ive given you an insight...
xox,steph

 

[IKTCA]

Teffie,

As you said, the need is in reality an urge. The urge to cut or the urge to drink. As we try not to yield to the urge, we become tense. Some pray, some sing, some call friends, some jog. But some follow the urge. Whether one prayed or drank, the tenseness disappears.

Those who prayed, or sang become stronger at next urge. But to those who drank, the urge becomes stronger next time.

The urge comes from Satan. We all know it. If I say I need to cut, I am basically saying, "I need what Satan gives," or "I need to do what Satan tells me to do." Does it make sense to you?

We all do our best to resist the Devil. None of us say, "Go ahead and cut." We all say, "Two days without cutting! Great sista!" We even exchange our secret coping methods. Our Lord knows our best efforts. Every once in a while, we fall. But we rise again. That is what I read in every post and every thread. This is truly a humble forum where everyone is humble before each other, and also before the Lord. I see no other forum of CF as humble as ours. The Lord said,

I am gentle and humble. (Matthew)

So are we who pursue the Lord.

Rupert

 

[teffie]

amen. i understand completely. cutting....simply says to god: what you have given me is clearly not enough for me. I dont beleive what you say to me with your word, so im turning to satan. there is only 2 choices in life. good or bad, god or satan. theres no in-between. if you dont listen to god, your listening to satan. if you dont beleive god, your beleiving satan. wether its unintetional or not.

 

[IKTCA]

This is the perfect occasion where the old cliche, "I couldn't say it better myself," has to be said. Thank you, Sister Teffie.
Rupert

 

[lexidoodle]

I personally don't think cutting is a need because we can live with out it. zzyes it is hard not to cut but addictions are not a need so technically we don't need too.

 

[alilsa]

I cut but sometimes I burn but I tried to change over to having an eating disorder since nobody would accept cutters. I know they are behavioural disorders but it sounded better than trying to admit to having several mental illnesses or feeling suicidal at this time of the year when people expect us to be happy. I have stuff buried inside me, some causes flashbacks that I only remember parts of that is hard to admit ever happened. Stuff that I was badly abused and blamed for. People walked out on me and rejected me and cutting was a way to try to get God's attention that I need help but am scared to ask. Cutting was also a way to atone for being such a misfit or a way of telling God I'm sorry but I don't know what He wants me to say to Him to get Him to want to be close to me.

 

[jesuschickseven]

There are many alternative ways, but it all depends on the person.
Things affect everyone differently. Some people might or might not respond to boxing, writing in a journal, spending time talking with a loved one, screaming in a pillow, taking an ice cold shower, furiously cleaning something, singing along to loud music (helps me), going for a run (one of my favorites), etc.
You just have to find something you enjoy doing or something that takes a lot of concentration and energy. If you're fully focused on something then you forget about cutting and you channel out those emotions that make you want to.
Oh and the number one helper: PRAYER!! It;s really hard to hurt yourself while talking to God! ;0