The Basics of Self-Injurious Behavior
87Self-Injurious Behavior, also known as Self-Mutilation (or more commonly Cutting), describes behaviors in which an individual causes physical harm to their own body. While making small cuts on one’s arms or legs is the more common example of this behavior, self-injury can also include head-banging, punching walls, burning one’s self, scratching one’s self and even punching one’s self in the head and face.
Self-Injurious behavior is directly related to emotional disturbances and is often a symptom of a deeper mental health issue. This can be associated with mood disorders and certain personality disorders (according to the DSM.)
NOT SUICIDE
Self-Injury is often mistaken for suicidal behavior, as minor cuts to the arms and wrists can physically resemble a suicide attempt. While ‘cutting’ and ‘burning’ can and will lead to scarring and permanent skin damage, these behaviors are not normally designed to inflict mortal or fatal harm to the body.
However, Suicidal Ideation can often co-exist alongside Self-Injurious behaviors in a person, and Self-Injurious behaviors can accidentally lead to more immediate danger if one ‘goes too far.’ Still, it is important to recognize the difference between suicide and self-mutilation.
WHY CUT?
There are four primary reasons why individuals habitually harm themselves in a non-suicidal manner:
1. The physical pain caused by self-injury distracts from more volatile emotional distress and emotional pain. It is used as a distraction.
2. The physical pain allows somebody to feel something, anything – in other words, to reduce dissociation, disconnectedness and emotional numbness. It is used as the opposite of an anesthetic.
3. The physical pain releases “endorphins” into the body. This is a less common reason but can be verbalized as a rationalization by cutters.
4. Peer pressure associated with certain subcultures and fads (some ‘goth’ and ‘emo’ cliques.)
WHO CUTS?
Females tend to be Self-Injurers more than males, and teenagers and young adults tend to Self-Injure the most.
Almost all Self-Injurers have a history of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. It is often these traumatic events that generate the extreme emotional pressure that becomes too much for a person to face or confront. Continued drug use or depression can lead to a flat affect or ongoing feelings of dissociation. Low self-esteem is also prevalent in populations of Self-Injurers.
One client I worked with was ‘triggered’ into wanting to hurt herself when she encountered men that reminded her of an extremely abusive ex-husband, or even when she became very frustrated. This was coupled with a history of sexual abuse and very low self-esteem.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Self-Injurers often hide their injuries from loved ones. They may wear long pants and tops with long sleeves to conceal scratches and cut marks. Most Self-Injurers harm themselves when they are alone and away from the watchful eyes of others.
A ‘hoarder’ is somebody who actively scavenges for sharp objects in which to use to cut themselves at a later time. This includes knives, scissors, shards of glass, and other objects. I personally worked with a cutter who smashed a light bulb in order to cut, and she would try to keep her fingernails long for scratching purposes.
TREATMENT
Treatment for Self-Injurers takes place on a variety of levels.
First, the deeper roots of emotional distress need to be confronted. This is often done through psychotherapy in a safe environment, or through the teaching of specific DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) skills. Many areas have rape crisis hotlines that can provide immediate counsel to persons with a history of sexual abuse or trauma.
If one is struggling with the urge to Self-Mutilate, it makes sense for a trusted friend or family member to remove sharp objects and other potentially dangerous materials from their living space.
Another level of treatment involves either Avoidance or Replacement behaviors. A person can be encouraged to engage in something else, such as calling a loved one, writing in a journal, or taking a walk when the urge to Self-Harm appears. Physical exercise certainly can lead to a release of endorphins that far exceeds that which is caused by making superficial cuts on one’s skin. A replacement behavior may include wearing a rubber band or elastic hair-tie around one’s wrist and snapping it to cause a brief jolt of physical pain that does not cause any physical damage to one’s body.
Finally, certain antidepressants such as Prozac can numb the emotional distress one may feel and create a feeling of euphoria.
A Cutter's Wrist
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You know what, if anyone who cuts their wrist for attention should just die. Do it the old fashion way and shoot yourself, pansies! If you don't succeed at killing yourself by cutting your wrist, then you have no reason to be in this world, just face it you'll fail at everything else if you cant doi the simple task of killing yourself.
I'm sorry to hear that both of you^ feel the way you do. I know that cutting sucks, but some things do help, and I don't know anybody who does it for attention. That's bullshit. People who think cutters just do it for attention are flat out wrong. The only attention they want is for somebody to help them. They tell you that people do it for attention because they don't like to admit the fact of the matter. YOU'RE a pansy for hiding behind a lie!
This page 'The Basics of Self-Injurious Behavior' is just a Bullshit opinion page. Lets state facts shall we...
#1 Diagnosis should be left to a real expert in this area... not to some pill popping and dealing motherfucker who thinks they know everything
#2 People such as myself who have cut and not just that, but ripped hair out, bitten chunks of skin out of their arms, among other things, hate the term SELF-MUTILATION for the simple fact it makes us sound as if we are trying to destroy ourselves... when really it's the opposite... we are trying to save ourselves from destruction
#3 People like us are no worse and in fact are using better techniques than the people that drown their problems in alchohol and taking drugs in any form (legal or not). Why I say this is they cover their feelings and the way they deal with them destoys them in every way. As for us the only bad thing about what we do is it leaves a physical scar. Big fucking deal
Thankyou Bias peices of shit....
^ u r so rite. i dnt rly think that they want to die..well some do but think. when they cut its to releive some pain and help stop thinking about emotion. but when u cut it just makes u more sad n suicidal cause u feel like ur letting someone down with each cut. trust me i no.
Do you really want to know what it feels like? To be able to caress that blade, then softly sink it into your skin? Do you fucking know what a relief it is? Go to hell. You guys know shit. I'm not saying that it's a smart way to deal with pain, but it IS a way. Just not the best.
In my experience treating SIB's, I don't think that self injurious behaviors (SIB) even relate to pain in the physical way. People who produce these behaviors tend to have rage inside. The rage is bigger than any pain. The SIB is a futile attempt to extinguish the rage. The SIB does mitigate the rage in the same way a cigarrette mitigates the need for nicotine.
SIB's tend to be triggered by things that get the person angry. If the anger arousing situation relates closely to the initial situation(s) that generated the anger, then the bouts of self injury will peack fast and be triggered often afterwards.
People do not caress the blade to commit the SIB. The caressing of the blade is a means to punish the people who are shocked by the behavior. SIB's have nothing to do with suicide - absolutely nothing.
Initial SIB's tend to be mild. Then, there is a process called desensitation. During this process, the person learns to cope with the pain the SIB produces. In many cases, the pain blends with pleasure. Therefore, the person really ends up enjoying it. At that level, the frequency and duration of SIB's may last longer than the recuperation periods. SIB's are seldom produced as cuts in proportion to other SIBs. In my experience, head banging, hair pulling, self-biting, and scratching are much more common.
Not every body could develop SIB's. Norrmally people with this problem tend to have unique sensory systems. They grow up in a world in which adults teach them about sensory experiences as felt by the majority of people. But the SIB child experiences things somewhat differently. Their resistance to stimulus stimulation is unique. In some areas, they can not cope with as intense stimuli as most people, while in some other areas, they may cope much better.
Treatment should always be based on an analysis of the person being treated. I look for the roots, coping skills, and cognitive and environmental factors that trigger the SIB's.
Not everyone cuts themselves because they have issues mentally or hate themselves. I know this as a fact because I know that one of my best friends and I have done it for the attention, and another friend did it spontaneously.
why for emotion? i do it for the pain makes me ffeel like im human, pain is the only thing i ever feel anymore
I'm a cutter and I have had years of therapy for that as well as other issues which I won't go into here. I must say that some of the comments on this hub are so over the top that I wounder if they are for real. The hub was certainly factual, if somewhat dry and clinical. What I found unusual is that the hub writer did not respond to a single comment. Why write a hub on such an emotional subject, if you're just going to drop of the planet?
I started cutting like maybe 3 weeks ago...because I've had a lot of ruff tmes. And I still do but I lov cutting . it takes all of the pain away from me and me and my bestfrend both do this but ya we do keeep it a secret from some people but for some it's obious but I don't do this for attention at all. that's just stupid because well if ur willing to go thru this all for attention then your a retard and trust me ur not getting the attention u want.
Wow. Some of the things people have written on here really make me laugh. Whoever said something about wanting it for attention, fuck you. It's not funny at all. All of you who think it's bad, it's horrible to do it, who are you to judge it? It's our lives, why do you even care about it? Live your own life. Or, maybe, try going through what we have and then tell us to stop.
omgosh. yes i am a cutter. it is such a relief to cut. i have a totally suckish life. yes i want to die but i wont hurt those around me so im not going to commit suicide. i HIDE the cutts. believe it or not i am afraid of hurt but i will sit there for hours cutting away with a stinkin pen if its all i have to give me the relief i need
I wrote a journal. My parents found it. Therapy time for me! Whop di hoo.
just so ya know that goth emo part is crap...
I'm a cutter, and you don't have to be emo or goth to cut. Hell, I bet half my friends cut, but they just don't want to say anything. It's not FOR attention. Thank you bullshit article for wasting my time. And the post above is right, that's a scratchers wrist.
Comming from a cutter. i Realized it was never for attention, my reasons. are of these. Like them or not, i dont care either way but its the truth. Having the power to control one thing in my life was all i had, something i could control, the depth, the width, the whole Rush of it was in my hands, no one can fully understand it. The sad truth is, that so many kids today are doing it for attention, pulling away from the kids that really do need it. I look at that picture and laugh, thats not even a scracthers wrist, but a poser. Look at real scars, and you can see, the jagged torn into scars.
Im not ashamed of mine at all. But time to time i do look back and think to myself, how did i let myself fall to this leval? but the truth is, it was all i known.
I had no one to say WAKE THE FUC* up kid, this isnt right.I wouldnt have changed a thing, because i can help people and actually be able to say i understand, one thing i hated most was someone who had no idea, actiling like they did..
I self harm. I sometimes hate the fact i do it, it's embarrassing and scary. When I cut myself I go out of control and into a kind of daze. I come out of it thinking 'what the hell have I just done' but why do I feel such relief when I do it? I don't want to go to a counsellor, I'm not crazy, I'm just a normal girl, I'm not a poser or an 'emo' I'm just a girl who has a big secret, and i hate making a big fuss about myself.
I'm not anyone to judge but we all have different minds, we all deal with things in our own ways. I think it's a bit stupid when people ridicule and judge eachother about 'how they cut' or why they do it or what their scars turn out like. Who says there's a right way to self harm? Everybody has their own story, just as we all have a unique fingerprint.
Cutting / self-injury / self-mutilation is obviously done by different people for different reasons. No two people are the same, although there are unfortunately many similar horror stories that people have lived through in this world. One common connection is the correlation between 'cutting' or another form of self-injury and unhappy life situations.
It is perceived by general society and mental health professionals that self-injury is a maladaptive behavior. It is certainly not a 'physically' healthy behavior, as far as the human body is concerned. Whatever the emotional or mental benefits of self-injury or the emotional toll, I think we can all agree that at least on the physiological level, it is a negative.
I really doubt that's a cutter's wrist, more like a stratchers wrist .. I admit yeah, i've cut before, for many reasons. Some people think I do it for attention but I really don't. They just don't understand the things that are going on in my life. The people who do it for attention are sick. Why can't people just leave us alone...Cutting is the only way I can distract myself from the pain that is going on in my life. It makes me feel human, makes me forget about everything that's going on...I'm not mental, i'm not a physco i'm just someone who doesn't know how to deal with everything, so i cut to forget all the pain. If people don't understand that then why do they bother taking the mik out of us.
This page is aload of bullshit!! They think they know everything but they really don't. They wont know what it's like until that's the only thing they can do to help them with the pain in their lives.
Dont cut. Trust me once u start u can't stop and ya i hate everyone who says o she does it for attension and stuff. Its bullshit. THey say taht cuz they have nothing better to do. Why can't they just shut up.
That picture looks like someone who has cut themselves with scissors, but is probs around their first time of doing it. I would know, the first time i cut, i did that, and that's what it looked like. But I'm not a scratcher so, i cant say what that looks like, but i know what cutting looks like. and the only way i would beleive this article, is if the author, has been through this themselves.
Interesting hub, keep up the writing
Strange...the picture shown is more along the lines of a scratcher and not a cutter. If it really was a cutter, then the cuts should have been spaced out and vertical, the right way to cut one's self. I hate it when some amateur comes along and cuts their wrist horizontally...like Demi Lovato. She's a poser with her sliced wrist because she cut it the wrong way. The correct way is up and down, not side to side...get it right morons! Well, as for my opinion on why people cut, I started cutting when my parents announced their divorce. They fought all the time and started to ignore me and my siblings. I met a girl, one day, and found out she cut her wrists, legs and stomach because her nerves were shot. She told me she just wanted to feel something. (having your nerves shot means you can't feel anything anymore) Don't get me wrong, at first, I was freaked out, but then I got curious. The rest is just obvious; I ended up becoming addicted to cutting. It helped me dull the stress of being ignored. It helped me go numb. No, I didn't want attention, so I bought several wrist guards and established them as my style at school. I use a letter opener to cut myself. Oh, and don't use the term 'Self-mutilation'...it makes us sound like we want to hurt our selves and if you for one second think that we actually want to do that, then you're sadly mistaken because that's bullshit. Well, bye and get your facts right...change the picture.
I am a cutter and my teacher was talking about cutting in class the other day. I wanted to rip her head off so bad. She does not understand what a relief it is to cut and either does this "blog". I like to cut! I cut everyday! People call me emo and I tell the truth! My mom found four razor blades with a minimum amount of dry blood on it. She checked my wrists and found slits on my wrists and my arms. She refuses to let me have scissors, blades, knives, etc. but I have a secret stash hidden in a lock box. She checks my history on my mac and finds out my wallpaper--which is a razor blade. I tell her I forgot to change my wallpaper, but I do delete my history and delete all my cookies. I do not do it (cut) for attention. I cut to let my feelings out. Strange? NO! My life is in my control and whoever says I am crazy, fuck you. Live your own life.
Cutter and I do it cause it helps numb the emotions. Emotionally stressed cause I have "tiger parents" and I don't do it for attention, I do it to relieve shit. Try living with those kinds of parents... I've noticed that the most happiest people in the world tend have the darkest history....
I understand cuting is wrong but it is a way to make some pain go away.
i have done it, it makes me feel better about stuff.
But i only do it when i am in pain and im crying my self asleep ever night.
i started cutting when i met a guy who goes through hell everyday. he told me his life story of getting beat and yelled at ever since he was born. i started cutting bc when we started dating everyone was telling me all he was going to do was hurt me and make my life horrible. i didnt belevie them and as the months went on i kept getting more bullshit so much that i couldnt take it any more and so i started cutting. after that my life went down hill. my brother dissowned me and my parents started to fight constentantly then my boyfriend life me and started rumors about me. i came close to sueisied but then though my life isnt bad enough to end it so i started cutting worse. and all the people who say we do it for attention its not true we do it because we dont have anyone to turn to that we can tell. it keeps our mind off the pain of our life and puts it on the pain of our rist. so stop judging till you yourself has been in our shoes! thanks from deepestcut23
I started scratching myself in July, and at first it was enough. A couple of months ago the cutting started. I don't understand why I do or why I started, I just felt really empty all the time and eventually it got to the point of near suicide. I'm on Honour roll and part of student council so I did a good job of hiding it. People didn't suspect it coming from me.
It's strange, after you start. The cuts don't hurt. I mean, you feel "pain" but not in a traditional sense. It makes you feel better. For that little moment as you watch that little bit of blood start seeping out, there's a relief. I know there's something wrong with me for saying it, but right now it's the only thing I have for me.
I'm getting "help" right now, but they don't know that I'm still doing it. It is nice to have someone know though, that you have a problem. It lessens the urge to cut, but it won't stop it completely. I guess my advice, do tell someone. Who knows, it might not help you at all depending on the circumstance, but you don't know until you try.
Wow... this is stupid... this makes me feel like im a psycho or something thanks...
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ano 2 years ago
You guys wont be able to understand why someone cuts until you have to resort to it!! So don't sit here and act like you know why, how, and who cuts!! You don't know anything!!!! Therapy doesn't work and niether does sending us to a psychward!!! It just makes us want to cut more!!! And in that picture that's not a cutters wrist that's a scratchers wrist!!! There's a difference!