[GenCat]

I cut because ______. If I had a penny for every time I was asked this question id be a millionaire. I cut to feel pain, to feel hurt emotion, to punish myself and to feel the rush.

[MarlboroChick]

I get this a lot too, as well as 'why dont you just stop?'
I cut to punish myself, because physical pain is better then emotional pain and it numbs my mind, because its something i can control (sort of), and because i like seeing the blood.

[gayleggg]

Because it takes away the emotional pain.

[AnnaBegins]

Because for a few minutes after I do it, I actually feel better. And I know it's not healthy but I need to feel better somehow...

[adam_k]

For me it is different reason at times. Most often it is to numb what I am feeling emotional pain. The sense of relief provides a feeling of being in control of myself and like I have the ability to cope.

Other times it is to express anger at myself. When I get filled with self hate, it gives me a way to express it and let it out. Afterwards I feel calm.

Other times it is when I am disassociating and I want to snap back. I feel really numb, lifeless and not there to the point where it is disorientating and I'm not sure anything is real. Cutting when I am like that snaps me back and I start to feel things again.

[Grey Matter]

I cut to feel real. To feel something other than nothing.

[WorkInProgress16]

To deal with stress, pain, it's addictive, and to know I'm alive.

[Evil_Karot]

I cut to feel a different type of pain. In my mind, it feels like when the physical pain heals, the emotional pain can heal too.

[Detia]

It feels complicated for me. Sometimes I end up doing it just because I feel like my mind has bombarded me with the option until that's the only way I can get relief from that. That makes me think that there are a lot of reasons for the behavior but that they're not conscious reasons.

So far I've come to understand that part of it is to punish myself, part of it is to relieve anger without breaking things that do or don't belong to me, and that part of it is the enjoyment of having scratches and scars like I did as a kid from just rough-housing.

Because I feel every emotion full blast. If we have needs or feelings or emotions which I must suppress , they would destroy me to find no outlet. Also because I cannot seem to confront irl issues/people. I would much rather hurt me than someone else which...also must arrive...somewhere. Also, because I find it difficult to indicate that I am crashing in our soul. So this becomes our language...body language...... for the words we cannot utter.

[growlithing]

It depends really. Sometimes I'm angry and I'm taking my anger out on myself, sometimes I'm trying to get myself to stop thinking/reliving things that upset me, sometimes I feel like I need to be punished, sometimes I feel trapped and want a release. It also helps validate my feelings in some way.

[tealBumblebee]

I cut because...
> I feel guilty
> I am anxious
> I am irritated
> I am angry
> I am bored
> I am content
> I want to make a certain design
> I feel overwhelmed
> I want to bleed (the most common reason)

I started cutting because of anxiety and depression, but recently cut because if I didn't cut a pentagram into my skin the spies and the government and demons and satanists will keep watching me and they'll send me to kill people. The pentagram keeps them away. Sometimes I cut because I'm hypomanic. Sometimes I cut when I'm delusional. Depends.

[bronzeowl]

A variety of reasons. I can't pinpoint just one.

Many things go through my mind when I cut. Sometimes, nothing goes through my mind at all. I guess, after ten years, it has become more of a habit than anything. One I realize is bad and dangerous but I can't stop anyway because it feels like it's an integral part of who I am as a person.

I self harm when I'm depressed. I self harm when I'm angry. I self harm when I'm happy. I self harm when I feel like I don't recognize who I am. I self harm to see if I can feel it because sometimes I feel as though I can't. And sometimes... I can't until I realize what I've done. Which could be two minutes later or two hours later.

I can't accurately answer this question except to say "because I have for so long that it's just hard to stop". Sometimes, I can't even recall why I began in the first place. Though that's no surprise since I can't recall that part of my life much at all.

[Blue_Bird]

I haven't cut in a few weeks but when I was it was for an anxiety outlet. For panic attacks, to kind of bring me back to reality make myself realize I'm still alive and not have that numb feeling, and when I was very depressed. I felt like cutting kept me from hurting myself a lot worse and ending things. It seemed to relieve things, only momentarily though.

[Samanthagreene]

To make the sadness go away.

38 years of self injury and I don't know. It seems not rational.

[Rugger13]

To release pain I cant articulate. It immediately calms me, my breathing slows and my heart rate drops.

To punish myself...if others hurts me, then I should be able to hurt myself. Atleast then it was warranted...does that make sense to anyone?

[hillsa]

I cut, because the color of red that emerges both comforts and soothes and allows me to focus on the aesthetic rather than the life I try to escape.

[hoping4best]

i bled to punnish myself

[ThisWayOut]

I do it for the adrenaline & endorphin; for it's ability to halt my unwelcome or uncomfortable thoughts immediately and reliably; to see the blood; for the release it brings; for the comfort it brings; because I just NEED to; to rid myself of the body memories; because my scars tingle; because it actually feels good (see the comment on the adrenaline/endorphin rush)... because maybe some day I will finally slip up enough that it will kill me by accident...

[BrokenWings93]

Sometimes I cut to calm myself down and sometimes I cut to punish my self, or feel some kind of emotion. There are so many reasons why I cut, every situation is different.