I'm cleaning up this thread and deleting all the unhelpful posts.
All the garbage needs to be cleared out and locked.
If they have problems they can make their own thread with their specifics.
GO THROUGH the posts that are left if you want other helpful advice not put on the first post.

_____________________________________________________________________

We get this question a LOT here on EB.
i end up having to repeat myself, and there is no easy answer to this question, so, i thought i would post up an easy guide on suggesting ways to stop.

NOTE: being 'emo' has nothing to do with our subculture, i think a few of you guys need to realize this. just because someone is scene doesnt mean they cut. in fact a lot of different types of people cut. and cutting does not make u scene. if you do it to fit in then you are a poser.

How to Quit.

Here are a few ways to get yourself to stop cutting. Feel free to try one or a combination of them.

One. Remove all the things you keep that you cut with. Razors, Knives, Glass, anything you use or might use. put it away where you cant see it and if you can, then throw it away. Remove the temptation to cut by first removing the tool you cut with.

Two. Make a list of all the reasons why you should stop cutting. Write down things like
NOTE: these are also some REAL reasons not to cut, for those wanting to stop, think about these, and how they may associate with your situation.
- i'm disappointing/losing friends.
- my parents may find out.
- i may have to go to a therapist if they do find out
- i may be a role model for my friends and they may start if they find out
- i may be hurting more people than just myself
- it could get infected and turn into a bigger problem
- my problems dont really go away, theyre still there
- i could accidently or maybe even purposely hit a vein and potentially die
- it isnt worth the risk
- it only makes things worse in the end
- im feeding the 'emo' stereotype

Those are just some, dot be afraid to put more according to what matter to you. Keep this list on hand so that whenever you feel the need or craving to bring it out on your wrists or legs, you can look that over, read it again and again until you finally feel the need to stop.

Three. If nothing else works. If the above fails and you can't find any other solution, it is seriously time to tell someone that can help you. no matter how much you dont want to go through all the trouble, no matter how much you think it will fuck up your life. you need to get this out of the way, and if the reasons why you cut is even bigger then the actual cutting (rape for example) then it's even more advised you tell someone. more then likely the help is better then all the trouble you have to go through to get it. if your in high school and ur scared everyone will know, they dont have to know. period. if you dont tell anyone, they wont know, and even if they do, you wont know them when youre out of school.
get help if you need it, that is that.

Hope this helps.

EDIT!:
This was in reference to someone who used a person as motivation to stop their cutting. The scenerio was that the girl the kid knew wouldn't talk to him anymore if he stopped. I thought I should put up my response to this in case other people do this as well.

TessTorture wrote: yeah but the problem with relying your motivation on another person is this:
People are not perfect
they are disappointing
and not always reliable.
i mean think about if she broke up with you or something? [i dont know if your even going out but this is just an example of the method your using]
then you would be even MORE inclined to cut.
or even worse. so my advice is this:
you should probably stay away from using other people as a key motivation to stop hurting yoursef, because in the end they could end up hurting you even more.
nowww..there are exceptions i SUPPOSE. if you did use this method make sure you have OTHER things your fighting for, mainly YOURSELF.
dont do it for other people, other people kind of suck -.-.
unless its with a friend.. not necessarily a lover, that you KNOW would never leave your side.

EDIT!:
How to stop yourself when you crave it:
These are some things suggested by members to do in the event you feel like you want to cut
- do something creative
[i.e: paint, draw, sketch, sing, write,]
- do something proactive
[i.e: run, exercise, lift, work out, take a walk]
- do something fun to take out frustration
[i.e: play shooting video games, ride a bike, roller blade,]
- do something just for the sake of expressing the pain you have
[i.e rip up paper, scream in a pillow, punch a pillow]

cutting is self abuse, self destruction to your body.
that is not and never will be a good thing.
yeah it may help u 'get through your problems'
but not the right way.
its emotionally and psychologically fucked up.

its not healthy.

and scars are not pretty.
this thread is for people who want to quit.
don't promote cutting -.-

Really good of you to put that on here.
I'm sure its helped people.
When I was a cutter, I went on moodgym (www.moodgym.au) and stuff like that and reachout.com. I found out everything I knew about depression, so that I could see from anothers persons veiw what i was doing to myself and WHY I was doing it to myself.
I learnt that whenever I felt the need to cut to simply flick a rubber band on my wrist, you can wear it as a bracelet or something. Theres a temporary mark that fades away in a couple of minutes and it hurt. By doing this I sort of 'weined' myself off cutting.
It really helped.

UnattachedIV wrote:

TessTragedy wrote: cutting is self abuse, self destruction to your body.
that is not and never will be a good thing.
yeah it may help u 'get through your problems'
but not the right way.
its emotionally and psychologically fucked up.

its not healthy.

and scars are not pretty.
this thread is for people who want to quit.
don't promote cutting -.-

I have a question then. Am I allowed to make a thread that keeps people who cut from going under because everyone wants them to stop?
I mean sometimes everyone putting pressure on you to stop is a lot worse.
And you don't feel like yourself when you stop cutting.
I don't mean to promote starting, but just continuing for "floating boats" out there.
Or would that thread get shot down and deleted??

I think there's a better place for that besides here, but the thread would not be shot down, at least I wouldn't lock/delete it.

I understand where your coming from, but if someone is comfortable with cutting, then they should care what other people think about it. Everyone can 'float their own boats', you don't need a forum to do that, do what you want, and be happy.

Personally, I'm fine with cutting, the only reason im not cutting **right now** is because I swore to my girlfriend that I wouldn't, and I would never do anything to hurt her, or make her worried.

If I wasn't with her, and she didnt care about me, then I would be cutting. I find it a release, otherwise I hurt other people, and I'd rather hurt myself than the people around me.

it is an addiction, yes that's true.

but there are other threads to discuss the the whole 'reason for cutting'. believe me theres like hundreds. this is a thread for people seeking HELP.
so if you like to cut then just get off the thread.

as for posting a thread for 'floating your boat'.
you dont need to post that. its not helping anyone, and it could possibly promote cutting. if someone were to get on and read your whole discussion, and you guys were talking about how great it is, dont you think they may think its okay to do too?

and besides that even if they didnt care what you said its just a pointless thing anyways. no one would read it, and it would get buried under countless other threads. besides im sure theres a thread like that somewhere around here..

xxHeart Breakerxx wrote: Cutting is like an escape.
It's like the second the blade rips open our skin theres
a moment when you just feel the pain and nothing
else can touch you. It's just u and the blade and u can
control the pain, if only for a moment.
It's like when your upstairs and your parents are fighting
about divorce and what not. Tears come to your eyes but you
hold them back and then you see your knife laying there and
you pull your pants leg up. Then you run the blade across
your skin, lightly at first, but then you push down and you see
the blood and you feel the pain and you escape for a moment, just a moment, but you realize that that moment was the happiest you've
been in a long time.

No offence, but that is the DUMBEST excuse I have ever heard!
There are other "escapes" than cutting yourself!
How about you try dealing with your problems instead of just escaping from them? Sure, standing up for yourself and dealing with these problems is hard, but when you do, those problems wont bother you ever again, while cutting will only cause even more problems!
Just stop being such pussies! You're making us look bad!

I took your advice and tried to fix the problem and now
everythings better thanks.
I guess I needed someone to tell me the truth instead of
just telling me that it's ok.

la pixie wrote: ummmm i need help i seriously cant stop my parents and my family hide da stuff from me but i alwayz find a way to cut like i did some cuts with paper but dat didnt work so i broke my mirror and even sharpened my skool scissors
someon plzz help me plzz i really want to stop....

well i know how hard it is... honestly if my boyfriend didn't make me promise to stop, i would still be doing it. if you are really having that much trouble you need to find someone to call or something everytime it gets bad. trust me i know that i didn't feel like talking when i was like that and wanting to cut and everything, but if someone would call me, it usually helped. idk.. jsut keep trying.. it takes A LOT of time and effort to stop. it took me at least 5 months to completely stop.

thats the same thing im goin through and im having real trouble with it cuz im cutting during skool too

Tried just scratching my arms... Ended up having to tell people I fell off my skateboard and other crap 'cause it was reasonably deep and bleeding everywhere...

Then my friend made me promise to stop, and I did for a while, but kinda picked up the habit after he stopped checking.

a few helpful tips:
u can run sort of sharp things (like keys) along your skin, this feels exactly the same as cutting. but without the blood
u can bite yourself ( ok i know it sounds stupid but it works) u just like put the knuckle of your index finger between your frost teeth & bite down as hard as you can. lolz i do this & entertain myself with the idea that i can shatter the bone if I really wanted to.

hope i helped u pplz

i piked up the habbit about a year ago and now its been hard quitting, my frend is worried and i try not to do it for her. but its become gradually worse. ive even been doing it in skool. i no its hard. its sorta like smoking. (ive never smoked but i understand how hard it is to quit) wat alot of people dont understand is that it is an addiction, well those r only the people hu hav never dun it. der of cors they r going to think that, and the people that ask me y im emo also ask me if i cut. i hate feeding the steriotype but i dont like lying bout that stuff for sum reason. and wen i try to quit im labeled a poser cuz i dont cut. but watever those people r such dikheads. i hate it. owell. but im just trying to focus on quiting. i hope this thread helps.

everyone has their own fuking idea of wut emo is. ive herd ur only emo if u cut, ur only emo if u wear all blak, ur only emo if u never smile and hate everything, ur only emo if cry cuz ur food is too hot, ur only emo if u dont hav real problems, ur only emo if u have blak hair that covers ur face, so fuked up right?
i dont label myself but the people i best fit in with, am most like, and feel comfortable around are wat people call "emo". but its kinda easier like that in sum ways. but people are gunna think wutever the fuk they wanna.

THe Body is A Beautiful Thing Why Destroy It? =]]

this has helped me quite a bit thank you



xxx