no cutting = ?

[OnlyByTheNight.]

for all the cutters on here who are trying to quit... what is it that makes you go back and cut again after a long period of time? is it a build-up of tension or a once off incident that pushes you over the edge or is cutting a way of you relieving other physical symptoms of stress/depression/panic?

[Malcolm Tucker]

You already know my answer but still.

I just feel like I'm not gonna get through this without it. You know as well as I do, recently some things have happened that have made this easier and have given me a reason to try harder but like it still feels like that if something happens that is so bad, I know I will feel that need.

[xlovexkurtx]

Both. After a while, cutting becomes the only way you know how to deal with any kind of emotional distress. Usually, people quit, small things happen, and stress builds up. Then a big thing happens, and that is, forgive the cliche, the straw that breaks the camel's back, and they cut again.

Personally, I quit cutting for about four months ago, and then I became EXTREMELY depressed. So I cut again just to feel something. Then, as previously mentioned, cutting became my only way to deal with things.

The most important thing to remember is if you want to stop, you have to do it for yourself, not anyone else, or it won't work.

[ShatteredWings]

i dont exactly cope well.
mostly when im not cutting, i'm simply repressing the causes that would normally trigger me to cut.
It's also a very quick way (for me) to relieve a panic attack or end a flashback. Never said it's healthy, and i wouldn't recommend anyone try that.

Usually it ends up being a straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back thing though. One last thing to push over the edge and bring back the need to do it.

[starbrite5]

Yeah, it just sort of builds up. I'll stop because I'm okay for the moment, but when things start to go badly I crave it again. I never learn new ways of coping, so it's just what I turn to once I can't take it anymore. I mean, until I started up again about a year ago, I hadn't cut for at least 5 months or so.

[Mike321]

I guess it just builds up, and the more you try and stop, the more you think about it.
I just get urges for it and eventually I go back to it, I know its something I can always turn to that no one else knows about

[Fiending_the_freedom]

Usually when people stop cutting they find other hopefully healthier ways to cope, but they usually do not work as well for people the have depended on cutting.
I quit a year and a half ago and sometimes when really stressful things happen I want to do it because it gives me different feelings then other coping methods.

[MadManWithaBox]

More often that not its little things that do it. Like i can have something big happen and deal, then one tiny little, pathetic sounding thing, and I'm broken.

[celine93]

When I started cutting I suddenly found something that would help me deal with ANYTHING.
and then suddenly I found myslef looking for reasons to do it, taking the smallest thing and convincing myself that I wouldn't be able to get through it without cutting.
And then it got to the point where I couldn't actually get through a day without need to do it at some point.
When I wanted to stop and tried it was just like everything was bigger and scarier and I was unable to cope with it.
The longest I've gone is 12 days, and by the end of it I'm suicidal.
Quitting scares me. I try but it's a lot.

[niko0202]

I had stoped for a long time I have not cut since May but then like something happened and it Just as you said pushed me over the edge and i did not know what to do i tried to think of everything! But no good the only thing I knew would give me a it of pleasure for a while would be to cut so now i'm Screwed again... I don't know if i can quit again it was so hard the first time already :(

[georgiamay]

well, in all of the slip ups i´ve had, and i´ve had a few, i´ve never really stopped thinking about it, i´ve always had to resist cutting or burning or whatever. And then one day, i just snap. I keep telling myself it wont help, but for a few minutes, i feel like a could just have a small relapse and everything will feel better. It kind of is a build up of tension, but there might sometimes be that one little thing that pushes me over the edge, and thats when i relapse.

It depends on the person. If they´ve depended on cutting for quite some time, they might feel like they need it, and that feeling could build up over time, and nothing seems to get rid of that feeling, and they tell themselves that cutting will make it go away, so they cut. But it really does all depend on the person and the circumstances.

[HeroesAndCons]

FOr me its more of thinking bout it when i keep all of lifes shit bottled in me and i end up doing it

[TheFountainGoddess]

at on point i had not cut for almost a month...then it was horrible...my brother has gotten in trouble with the law and now whenever my parents talk about then all i hear is screaming and yelling about how to help him..and my younger sister is horribly mean and my dad treats her as if she's a princess and ima monster...finally a few days ago i just snaped i was so angry with my life and needed a way to express my anger but didn't want to hurt anyone while doing it cuz it would make the pain worse, b4 i knew what i was doing i was slashing my arm...its become addicting...i haven't even been doing it for over six months! now, right now im trying so hard not to cut...the pain and pressure is building up and i feel like im gonna burst...since its the middle of the night, none of my friends are awake to help me, the only thing i can think about is cut, blood, the pain subsiding,cut, blood, the pain subsiding over and over in an endless chant in my head its driving me insane i wish i hadn't gone back to cutting

[-Silence]

For me it was a build-up, it was a snowball going downhill just collecting more and more snow until the cut. It's been almost two years since I last cut and to keep from slipping up I had to find something that had the same effect cutting did.

[OnlyByTheNight.]

For me it was a build-up, it was a snowball going downhill just collecting more and more snow until the cut. It's been almost two years since I last cut and to keep from slipping up I had to find something that had the same effect cutting did.

I'm just being curious here but what did you use that had the same effect?

[Rutherford The Brave]

I managed to stop, I have another way of coping with it all. It's not exactly the best thing but it seems to help me.