Alisha from Indiana asks… How can I stop cutting myself?

Cassie

Welcome to my counselor online. I’m Cassie, and this is asking for a friend that’s a place where you submit your questions, or a friend or for yourself.

And I tracked down one of our therapists to answer your question today I have Josh with us. It was going to answer a question from Alisha in Indiana. So here’s the question. How can I stop cutting myself.

JOSH, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY.

Josh

Hey, well first I want to say thanks for your courage deletion kind of reaching out for help. And it’s a little scary when you’ve got a compulsion like that and you’re not sure what to do about it, but you don’t know How to stop doing that. And so appreciate your, your courage and submitting the question. So let’s talk for just a few minutes about What cutting as about and self harm is generally about from a clinical perspective.

Generally cutting is about a using our body’s hormones associated with pain relief as a way of modulating our emotions. So when we have emotions that we don’t know what to do it that are overwhelming for us.

Or we’re not feeling emotion at all. And that scares us, then we can use cutting as a way of managing our emotions and so

There’s a variety of different reasons why people can but if I’m feeling pain and I want to distract from the emotional pain that I’m feeling I may cut and allow the endorphins my cutting to numb out the pain that I’m feeling

If I’m feeling numb and I don’t feel alive if you hollow inside. I may cut to feel pain to feel something, and that in the field live net at other times.

I may cut because I feel unseen unheard on cared about and my cutting as a way of trying to communicate my need for help to those around me.

And so in order to stop so farms start cutting. If you want to first got to understand what is it serving What purpose does it serve and in my life.

And so what am I using the self harm. What am I using the cutting to manage in my life and how do I go about caring for that in a healthier way.

In a way, other than cutting. And so, in a nutshell, or in the shortest explanation. That’s how we understand self harm and cutting, generally speaking.

And the process that we as counselors walk through with folks in helping them to stop so farm we help them identify the purpose of the cutting a serving in their life.

We help them identify the things that are motivating that experience and help them figure out ways of dealing with that, that are healthier than through cutting

Cassie

Okay, yeah, that’s really good information. Josh, thank you for your time to answer this question. Alisha, Thank you for your question.