For anyone who has harmed themselves

[Ringo]

I have never understood one thing...
How does adding physical pain by self harm help mental pain? Just something else to worry about and feel hurt for is what I thought. Not meaning to be offensive. Really curious.

 

[lauren]

I always say that to people, why does hurting yourself further help?

I never cut, but I did burn my arms with erasers/scratch. I honestly think it was a cry for help and I secretly hoped someone would notice.

 

[Ringo]

Oh I never thought about that before. I think something minor could vey wellbe for that reason but trying to cover cut up arms doesn't scream, "I need attention."

 

[Riven]

Because it easy us.
How can i put this in words?
When i feel psicologically in pain, cutting myself helps because of the endorphins. I feel a relief.

"The way I understand cutting is it just helps the person feel better. It turns that emotional pain into physical pain. You know when you fall and it hurts then a few seconds later it feels better. That's what cutting is all about. Making that pain go away. No it's not for attention. Must believe it is. I know a few cutters. My best friend cuts herself and hides it well. only a few cut for attention and they are stupid. A "real" cutter will do anything to hide it. Lie about cuts and marks. Anything so no one finds out. People who cut for attention can stop whenever they want. Someone who does not can not stop. They become addicted because the pain makes them feel better"

also this

"When a person injures themselves endorphins are released in the body and function as natural pain killers. The person then learns to associate the act of self-injury with the positive feelings they get when endorphins are released in their system "

 

[Vampenstine]

Exactly what Riven's said.

Anger, frustration, stress, deep unhappiness, emotional pain, there's plenty of reasons people do it, and of course it's not a healthy way to deal with things, but it helps at the time.
The endorphins released as pain-killers can be calming, soothing. Physical pain takes priority in the mind over emotional pain, so it takes your mind off of things.
It provided a sort of escape, for me. If I was hurting physically, I wasn't hurting emotionally and I was pretty willing to do almost anything to get rid of how I was feeling.
As Riven quite rightly said, it can be addictive. It's a lot harder to stop than it is to start. It's going to be something that'll always be at the back of your mind as the alternative to dealing with how you're feeling or your problems healthily. The 'easy option'. I relied on it, and stopping is definitely not easy.
It'll always be a thing I have to deal with, and I'll always have the scars to remind me of it.

It's not healthy, in the big scheme of things it only adds to your problems, but at the time it's an escape, it's calming, and it appears to help.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Self-injury/Pages/Causes.aspx

 

[lauren]

Funnily enough, I felt that way at the time. I didn't want anyone to know or see but now that I look back on it, I don't have any sympathy for myself or what I did and I just think I did it because I needed help. I have a completely different view on it now than I did then honestly though I've had many years to reflect on it.

 

[LokiLaufeyson]

Not going to read everything but, I self-harm because physical pain is easier to handle than emotional. It's a release. A quick way to handle life.

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

Physical pain can be processed mentally. When something physically hurts, you can see why it hurts, you can do things to help stop it. It takes your mind off other things. I can see the blood, I can see where the blood is coming from, I can use objects to fix it. That's something I can't do with mental or emotional pain. There's no bandage, no binding to put over it. There's no medication that helps make it feel better, the only solution is to be strong enough to deal with it.