Serious question about cutting

[MURD3RMACHIN3]

I started cutting myself around the end of 5th grade, not really positive why I started, but after that it became my way of handling emotional stress. If I was angry or depressed, I would cut myself and I don't even know if I ever felt better afterward. A lot of the time I think I felt like I deserved to be 'punished', because I used to be a very self-blaming person, and I suppose I still am. Your friend may or may not feel the same way.

I think I partially did it for attention; I wanted someone to care about me and be concerned. After a while though, I got tired of people asking me how I got the scars, so I started bruising myself instead by hitting something or hitting my arms with something.

However, it's been several years I think since I last cut myself, so I would say that I am beginning to grow out of it, although I occasionally get angry or frustrated enough to where I hit something hard enough to break my skin.

It sounds like you care about your friend a lot, which probably helps more than you realize.

[mrs_chester_bennington]

There are many possible reasons. Some people like to physicalise their emotional pain so they can feel valid about it. Some are distracted by the physical pain, as this distracts from the mental pain (the brain can only concentrate on pain in one area at a time). Bleeding may symbolise release. Some are numb and use it to feel something, because pain is all they can feel. Others use it to escape feeling so much. Blood can be very meditating and beautiful to some people, especially those who are severely depressed. Some are said to self harm so that they can then tend to the wound, as the first aid process helps them feel like they are healing. Others do it to punish themselves, and will abstain from first aid. Some are said to do things to themselves that they subconsciously wish to do to someone else, such as their abuser. It is often found that in a suicide note people will write "look what you made me do" and stuff like that. They hurt themselves because they actually wanted to hurt their abuser but couldn't. There are a few people who do it for attention, but keep in mind these are the ones we see but these are only the tip of the iceburg. Most people hide it from absolutely everyone.

[CrocoLania]

yeah. . .my friend did that. he was messed. i didn't know what to do. i kind of just ignored it. i felt kind of bad, but i'm not good at dealing with other people's problems. he ended up knocking up some foreign chick. . .not sure what happened after that. . .but yeah, hope you have better luck. it's a difficult situation.