Your opinion about Self Injury

yumbby

As a life long self injurer I belong to a couple self help type groups. One issue that keeps coming up over and over is everyone's dismay over peoples attitude toward them when they are discovered. I try to help the young ones ignore peoples ignorant remarks but its difficult. Why do people think that people that cut or burn or whatever are selfish and attention seeking? Is that your opinion? Or do you see it as it is, a coping mechanism, a cry for help sometimes, a way just to get by. Some people have drugs, some have alcohol, some have a razor. Why the open hostility like we are murderers or something? I don't understand it. I really would like opposing opinion on this because I'm trying to understand others views and in turn maybe help some of these youngsters.

BurnTheShips

I know a self injurer. I suspect she does it for the pain induced endorphin release. Poor girl, she is a dysfunctional JW teen. As for me, I have never self mutilated, but I have a strange fascination with watching myself bleed when I accidentally cut myself.

Weird huh,

Burn

yumbby

It releases extremely strong endorphines, breaks the cycle of intense anxiety, kinda like bursting a balloon. Becomes a powerful but ineffective crutch. The reaction from people is weird. Its not understanding in that they see someone in pain, they literally get MAD. Like the person killed a puppy or something. I don't understand the anger.

GoingGoingGone

Some people cannot stand the sight of blood. At all. Seeing someone bleed, or even thinking about someone bleeding, arouses strong feelings of disgust/horror/fear in them. And since no one likes to feel like they are losing control of their emotions, the feelings are directed towards the self-injurer (for making them feel that way.)

Those of us who do not self-injure can't fathom causing ourself physical pain on purpose. It makes me cringe to think about it. And yet, I have no problem seeing blood. And I have enough knowledge of emotional pain to understand that a person will do whatever possible to make it stop.

Just guessing.

GGG

misanthropic

I never heard of anyone "cutting" themselves or harming themselves like that until I realized someone I knew did it. I don't know that I felt angry about it as much as confused as to why, why would anyone do that. Seeing this person I cared about being hospitalized again, or getting staples in her arm to stop the severe bleeding, seeing the scarring all over their arms and legs as it progressively got worse. It still isn't something I understand though I've spent lots of time thinking about it.
I don't think it's something too many people are informed about or educated on. It's surprising, shocking and it's hard for someone who doesn't do it to comprehend what would make someone do such a thing, to bring physical harm to themselves. And that's just my 2 cents.

PEC

My granddaughter cuts herself, it is very painful to know that someone you love, is hurting themselves. Maybe the anger is; because, when you hurt yourself, you are hurting those that love you.

Philip

DazedAndConfused

I have 'cut' myself. I don't seem to feel the pain when I do it though. Watching the blood is like a weird kind of release. It is like watching the hurt within myself just flow away.

When I know of others that are close to me that cut, I worry more about the inner pain than I do about the outside scarring. I don't get angry, how can I?

sass_my_frass

Well, speaking for myself, I find it gross and immature. Umm, sort of like somebody telling me about how they were so depressed that they got drunk and vomited at work; as if they have a better way of coping than the average Oprah fan. A stronger emotional reaction though, probably because of the ability of open wounds to transmit disease.

Gadget

I've had quite a lot of contact with people self-harming because of my job, and witnessed some absolutely horrific injuries.

It releases extremely strong endorphines, breaks the cycle of intense anxiety, kinda like bursting a balloon. Becomes a powerful but ineffective crutch.

This is the way I see it, and the way it has been explained to me by people who self-harm. Its like self medicating by taking a pain killer, it gets rid of the pain and lets you operate normally but if the source of the pain is still there it will return and require treatment again. Its treating the symptom not the cause. Some of the people I've spoken to have stated it as a reason for not getting professional help for their problems, thinking they don't need it as they already have a coping mechanism. But instead of being able to try and resolve things permanantly, their feelings just keep coming back and they feel the need to cut up again.

jgnat

Maybe the reaction is horror. Perhaps it is not so much a judgement of the person, but the act itself. I fear if I understand it will lead to acceptance. How can self-mutilation be an acceptable way of releasing pain?

Your opinion about Self Injury

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