How To Stop Cutting Yourself
- August 4, 2009
- 17,459 Views
from
Carlo Scialla
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Contributor
Rosemarie_Lennon
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Voice Over Artist Lauren Verfenstein Gobes
- Music Edison Music Corps
Self-injuring with knives or razor blades is a dangerous attempt at coping with problems like anger and anxiety. Learn how to get help and deal with your feelings more constructively.
You Will Need
- Therapy
- A psychiatrist
- Relaxation techniques
- Substitutes for self-injury
- Outlets for your anger
Step 1
Seek counseling to explore why you are hurting yourself. Dialectical behavioral therapy – an intense individual as well as group course involving talk therapy and journaling – has proven especially effective in treating self-injurers.
Step 2
See a doctor who can determine whether you might benefit from medication. Anti-depressants are sometimes effective in treating self-injurers.
Cutting is common in people with borderline personality disorder.
Step 3
If you’re one of the approximately 50 percent of self-injurers who have been sexually or physically abused and the situation is ongoing, report it to your parents or the authorities.
Step 4
Realize that self-injury is an attempt to self-soothe. Cope with your stress levels by taking up a relaxation technique like yoga or meditation to calm yourself.
Step 5
Find substitutes to use when the urge to cut strikes, like snapping a rubber band against your skin, rubbing your arms and legs with an ice cube, or doodling on them.
Step 6
Find healthy physical outlets for your anger, like going for a run or putting on loud music and dancing.
Step 7
For more information, contact Self Abuse Finally Ends at selfinjury.com or 800-DONT-CUT.
Most self-injurers are girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26.
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Comments (3)
Oh, and the psychiatric drugs also kept the focus off the issues that needed to be dealt with, as well as clouding my mind.
over 2 years ago by YouKidsNever
A psychiatrist is not needed, nor are medications of any effect. A good psychologist might be in order. The focus should not be so much on the cutting as it is on what is going on in your life - the cutting is only a symptom of the real issue. It's a result of emotional pain and taking drugs will do nothing to address the issue. Learning how to deal with issues in relationships is key, as is learning that it's ok to feel the pain w/o acting on it; it takes a lot of hard work. Cutting (or any other kind of self-abuse) is not the answer. Physical exercise can be useful, preferably something like running or walking - they help clear the mind and give you time to think things through. I've had many a breakthrough during a run; I never would have gotten that clarity from doing what I used to to myself.
over 2 years ago by YouKidsNever
Old school remedy, frontal lobotomy. Simple, cost effective, works everytime.
over 2 years ago by deckard1
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