Triggering: I just SH for the first time and I really enjoyed it

[Zany]

I have been bored and tired with my life lately. Lonely and depressed. I have no friends and I do nothing. I sleep to pass time and I guess it is because of all that I decided to cut. It was like something to do and I wondered how it makes people feel better like some say. well the pain wasn't that bad and it just looked really cool when the blood gushed out. I don't really know how to explain it but I just found it really enjoyable. I know it's not a good thing but..

[Nicole!]

You're absolutely right, it isn't a good thing. You really need to find other ways to cope with stress and pain other than hurting yourself. Sure, you see lots of people talk about how great cutting is. But you'll also see lots of people trying to quit. Its not healthy and while it may seem 'cool' to see blood, you can create scars that will last forever and there is the possibility to get an infection. If you know its a bad thing to do, then why keep doing it? It doesn't create release, sure, but there are lots of other ways to achieve this which are less harmful.
Here is a list of alternatives.

[EmisaurusRex]

Hey there Aubrey,

I'm sorry to hear that things have been rough lately. But, I assure you that self-harm is NOT something that you want to start doing regularly. Or at all. Self-harm is not a healthy way of coping with things, and often times becomes addictive. Trust me...you don't want it to end up controlling your life. It's really hard to get out of.

Have you checked out our alternatives thread? You can find it here: http://www.teenhelp.org/alternatives
It's a list of things you can do instead of hurting yourself. You mentioned how it looked cool when you saw the blood...there are alternatives that you can do that will help with that, too. It's a huge list, so the things you try at first might not be the right ones for you, but keep searching...you're bound to find some!

Have you told anyone how you've been feeling? You don't have to suffer through all these negative feelings alone, and there's definitely help out there. Maybe you could try talking to a teacher, guidance counselor, family member, or someone else you trust and/or feel comfortable talking to. From there, maybe you could look into counseling or something like that? I know a lot of times it's a pretty scary thing to try to talk to people, but you really don't have to fight this alone, and you don't deserve to be hurting.

Hope things look up for you soon. Take care!

[anahelp12]

im sorry! i have been cutting for 4 years, it is something i wish i never started. it literally takes over your life and just when you think its not a problem anymore and you dont do it for a little once you get upset again it just gets worse than before. my arms and legs are all messed up from it. every time you do more and more, it starts with one cut but then becomes 8 cuts everytime you just want to do one cut. i hope the best for you and hope you are willing to over come this compulsive disorder and yours doesnt get as worse as mine. <3

[Dez]

Hi there Aubrey,

Like what was said before, you really don't want to start Self-harming. You'll have all the permanent scars and marks, and it's not really a good way of coping with things. Like people before have posted, you should check out some of the alternatives. There you may find something to help you when you feel like you want to cut. Please try to stop before it becomes addicting, because once you start it is so hard to stop and you will have to deal with such bad urges.

Try telling someone how you are feeling and see what happens from there. Having a good support system is always a wonderful thing. Also, have you tried journaling what is making you feel a certain way? It allows you to get your emotions out onto paper, and then you are able to look back at them later on when you're feeling a bit better and see what made you feel like cutting on a certain day. Then you will be able to figure out what you can do from stopping that thing from triggering you again.

Stay strong!
-Dez

[softball]

I'm a cutter and yeah, the feel of it is such a rush and it's so good to feel the bite of it in your skin, but then you have to hide the cuts and scars forever. It's difficult to answer when people ask you what the scars are from. When you want to dress up and go out with your friends, you'll be worrying the entire time about if your scars are showing or not. It's not fun. You should read up on other ways to release stress and anger. I'm using most of them and they work

[Zany]

I don't really get out much anyways for anyone to see and I am not gonna bother hiding anything I don't really care if anyone see's it at least at my school it's kinda common. I'm not saying I'm proud of it or I'm gonna brag about it but like I just really don't care. Even though I liked it I am not sure I will do it again anyways because I know it's not really a good thing and it's not like I'm addicted or anything I don't see how people can get addicted... If I want to not do it again it won't be hard. But anyways thanks everyone for the advice and if I ever need to I can look at the alternatives some of them are good ideas If I told anyone how I was feeling I would just become like all the other kids around here and probably start going to councelling witch is just plain stupid and doesn't work on me from my past experience with that.

[Bubbles37]

Even though you aren't addicted yet it's really easy to get addicted. I can tell you from experience that it's NOT a road you want to go down. I won't deny that there is the rush that comes with it, but it is definitely not worth it in the long run. You don't want to live in a world of scars and addiction. It's not fun, and it's never worth it. You may not think you'll get addicted--I didn't think I would, and, pretty soon, I was. I promise there are healthier ways to deal with how you're feeling.