Young Writers Society

No this is not a debate.
No this is not about whether it's right or wrong.
~~~~~

Im here for your input, what, exactly, is cutting?

People cut themselves because they are depressed.
I cant for the life of me figure out why they cut themselves, for any reason.

This is my input on this.

Cutting is physically cutting the skin so it bleeds/has pain. Self-mutilation, no different from stabbing yourself, pricking yourself, shooting yourself... the outcome is the same, self inflicted damage. Thats about all I can squeeze out of it.

Please, if youre going to say something, please say it coherently.
I dont want "I dunno, its just something we do and it makes us feel better".
How exactly does it make you feel better?

This is not a debate on whether it's right or wrong. So noone should feel offended, noone should get pushed or shunned or anything else. Remember this is a touchy matter, and Id like to at least understand it.

What the hell are you talking about? This is something I would say. Find some sympathy.

Seriously now. You don't understand unless you actually experience it. When life all but leaves you at the doorstep, then that is that feeling you depress about. Not comparable to sadness, because depression actually drains you and fills you. It's a feeling of lostness that you truly believe in. To ignore that pain, mentally, people will often use physical pain to draw from it. It instantly relieves the current depression that you ache with. Just that absence, that temporary moment; you are feeling... good. This is serious if the individual feels this way, because they have left the safety of true survival (that you speak of). In your eyes, it is bodily harm that is inappropriate no matter the situation. But the case really is (sometimes) that they do this because of issues and problems that depress them. It is serious because of total lack of... how would we call your sense of right and wrong S.Light? Consciousness? Constitution? God? All we know is that people will hurt themselves to get away from the pain driving them into depression. It really must be truly, that painful if the absence of it, soothes the mental.

But there is also another reason. For the sake of attention. Hormones change the body. But during times of becoming a man or a woman, these hormones are at their peak of fluctuations (maybe except for pregnant women). This change, this weirdness in teenagers is often found as the high or low of their lives. Doing so much, and not enough. It's just a crazy world to be in, being a teen. With added stress of grades, college, parents, relationships, and friends, the gradients swing back and forth like some punching bag I would break my hand on. So they cut. Burn. Whatever. To draw away from life and put the spotlight on them, because THEY ARE HAVING SUCH A HARD TIME!!! So much, that NO ONE ELSE IS GOING THROUGH TOUGH TIMES LIKE THEY ARE!! Sorry. I've seen and experienced this in first person. I understand that the brain is a complex organ; it's just hard for me to except it's reasons for actions like these... these silly excuses. By the way, the first paragraph is a totally separate issue. Note the 'But there is also another reason...' that starts in this paragraph.

Also there are the odd ball stuff. Curiosity. Experiencing. Maybe even your turn on. It's a huge subject. Try not to be too logical S.Light; empathizing is much better then judging. *winks* Oh, and your question cannot be answered. I'm sorry to be so INcoherent with you, and not replying to your WANTS and needs of the... debate. You will learn grasshopper.

~AW

EDIT: I just realized that my first phrase in this post sounds kind of mean. It was meant to be in perspective of S.Light's initial feelings or his 'take' on the matter. Thanks.

Er... let's not go there. Seriously.

My sense of "right and wrong" is called opinion.

Well that posts leaves some questions still but Ill just drop it here.
Thanks for the reply.

I'm impressed with that attempt, Z-Man.

Sponson, I'm just going to direct you two these two previous threads so you can have some responses to your question as well as get some knowlege of previous directions these threads went.

Self Harm

Self Harm 2

Hope this is helpful--Forgive me if I don't directly give you some information. I prefer not to speak from personal experience.

This is a bad idea. This thread always ALWAYS turns into fighting.

Personally, I did it because I was in pain. I can't explain to you why pain helped aleviate pain, but I suppose the simple difference between suffering of the skin and suffering of the heart gave me some kind of consolation. All I felt was pain, I was dull to all other emotions. Sometimes we must bleed to know we are still living, still sentient, and still in control of ourselves and our bodies. As it turns out, I inherited self-destructive behaviours the same way I inherited my red hair. I happen to be ADHD and Bipolar.

I had a friend in middle school who cut because she learned at an early age the best way to recieve attention from her parents was through negative behaviours. She was later diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She found other ways to hurt herself eventually. I doubt she will ever find a good relationship or a man who really cares for her.

My mother works with behaviourally disordered and emotionally disturbed children. One of her fourth graders cuts his fingers and writes terrible things in his own blood. He said he wanted to kill one of his teachers, and it made him sad because the teacher was his friend. Another one of her boys cuts himself because if he doesn't, the voices say they will hurt him worse.

People hurt themselves in all kinds of ways, for all kinds of reasons. These are just a few. But one thing is absolutely for sure, you never ever have to be alone. You never have to experience the pain without help. Your parents love you, your friends love you, and deep down you love you too. Tell an adult you trust, talk to an older peer, see a counselor, write me an email. But for heaven's sake don't bottle it up. Everyone knows one form of pain or another. You are never alone.

Just a note: "this thread" has never existed before. There have been previous threads about Self Harm, but they were always discussions or debates. This is a simple thread that we can post in to understand what it is and why people do it. If anyone tries to debate, do not let it continue, because that is not the intention of this thread, as Sponson stated already.

In any case, I think that cutting makes perfect sense in certain cases. I'm not saying that it's good in any case, but that I can understand why people would do it. Sometimes when there's a lot of trouble or noise around you, you feel like you need something stronger to block it all out. I guess I could equate it with how I listen to music when I go to bed to draw my focus away from other thoughts and the noises of the people around me. You're replacing something you can't stand with something that's painful, but not unbearable.