[Browncurtains]

8 days without cutting. I've only ever cut on my fingers so it might not seem like much to anyone. But now I'm angry at myself for doing it after 8 okay days. I don't even know why I do it! It felt so good though.

I've been reading how some people think that we do it just for attention and that it's dumb. (It wasn't on this website) If I don't know why I do it, does that mean I just cut because I want attention and am being dumb?!

Originally Posted by Browncurtains

8 days without cutting. I've only ever cut on my fingers so it might not seem like much to anyone. But now I'm angry at myself for doing it after 8 okay days. I don't even know why I do it! It felt so good though.

I've been reading how some people think that we do it just for attention and that it's dumb. (It wasn't on this website) If I don't know why I do it, does that mean I just cut because I want attention and am being dumb?!

HelloBrowncurtains: Well, I don't think anyone really knows why some of us self harm. Personally I don't think it is attention-seeking. And I doubt very much it's because you're dumb. Of course, you'll always find a few uninformed people who'll leap to this sort of assertion. You just have to ignore them.

I know, in my case, my self harm certainly wasn't attention-seeking, because I hid it until I had caused myself permanent physical injury. And I think hiding self-injury is much more common than seeking attention for it.

It is true, however, I believe once you get started, it can be difficult to stop. It's much easier unfortunately to progress on to bigger, deeper, & more frequent cutting. So, I do hope you are getting some mental health services geared toward helping you to stop cutting yourself.

Also, I understand what you mean about feeling angry with yourself for cutting again after 8 days. But, you know, focus on & celebrate the fact you went 8 days. Okay, after that 8 day period, you cut again. But prior to that, you had racked up 8 days. So now just start working on racking up another bunch of cut-free days. Best wishes...

[ombrétwilight]

There certainly are people who cut for attention, but then and again that in itself is a sign of a deeper underlying problem. Cutting can become very addictive and I find that one tends to get more and more extreme to achieve the same effect. It's great that you managed to avoid it for 8 days you can set a new goal of maybe 10 days or something and gradually increase the number.

I don't know if you are doing it for attention because only you yourself know the answer to that. If you have a T, it'd great if you could discuss it with her and she can also help you to work towards being cutting-free. All the best!