What is Cutting?

Cutting is a serious form of self-injury that involves cutting oneself to the point of bleeding. This form of self-abuse tends to be more common among women, with about 1% of the US population practicing it. There are numerous explanations for why people hurt themselves, and people often believe that this behavior is suicidal. In fact, cutting is frequently not suicidal, but can be accidentally so. As well, underlying conditions that lead to it may predispose people toward suicidal tendencies in addition to cutting.

People who cut often suffer from either significant emotional trauma, as from past or present child abuse, or from psychiatric illnesses like bipolar disorder, major depression, or major anxiety disorder. Some people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) also practice ritualized cutting. People with schizophrenia may cut out of a sense of altered reality or through delusions of grandeur that make them feel they are impervious to harm. Those with eating disorders may also practice this behavior if they suffer from body dysmorphic disorder.

Not everyone who suffers from the above disorders cuts, but these risk factors are more likely to cause a person to do it. There are numerous explanations for why people cut, which may or may not apply to each individual. One explanation is that some people who are anxious, angry or depressed may actually get a misdirected serotonin boost from this behavior. Just like the anorexic who exerts control over her/his environment by controlling food intake, cutting gives the illusion of control over pain.

Others use it as a means to express inward feelings of pain that they cannot or fear to voice. Seeing blood flow tends to be satisfying momentarily, since it is a physical expression of emotional pain. Some individuals cut because if they are drifting into states where they feel disassociated, physical pain snaps them back into the “real world.”

Those who use cutting are often consumed by guilt over their behavior, often minutes after they cut. Still, something about the this behavior proves emotionally satisfying and temporarily relieves emotional pain. Cutting becomes an addictive behavior in this fashion. Even though it is dangerous, potentially life threatening, and a risk to health, it is still practiced because a person derives momentary relief from the behavior.

Cutting in a person may indicate psychiatric illness or severe emotional turmoil that needs treatment. Normally a person who practices this behavior regularly cannot stop without help from trained professionals. Depending upon their underlying condition, people may require medication to treat overwhelming feelings of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or other mental conditions. Alternately, they may require therapy to address severe trauma in the past. Most people are able to stop through a combination of therapy and medication.

Children can start cutting, in some cases, as early as their pre-teen years. It is important to take this behavior extremely seriously, yet also vital not to blame the child for a compulsion. Placing blame on the child, initially, could increase the behavior.

The first step is to intervene and get therapeutic help for the child. Psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists and licensed clinical social workers that have experience in the area of self-injury are the best places to start. You can also speak to a child’s pediatrician or doctor for recommendations on mental health professionals with experience in this matter.

Depending upon the extent to which the individual cuts, some benefit from hospitalization where behavior can be controlled. Ultimately, though, the individual must be helped in ways that convince them they no longer need to use cutting to control or express strong emotions. As with all forms of self-injury, something positive must replace the behavior in order for it to be eliminated. This can take time and work, but many who undergo treatment are able to stop, learn to express their emotions in more meaningful and less destructive ways, and are freed from the guilt that continued cutting engenders.