what helped me was this girl i am in love with told me she'd never talk to me again if i didn't stop. so ya. I don't want to loose her so i don't do it any more. Cutting is an addition. To stop you got to find a constant that will keep you moving in the straight path. The temptation of blades make you stronger. I sleep with 15 different knives 5 feet from me. It gets hard sometimes but i just think of her and it passes. Today is two weeks.

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.




just be careful you guys. :/

Cinderemo wrote: i am very proud of all of my scars.

That's extremely not right.
everything else, i can deal with.
but this.
no.

you shouldnt be proud of hurting yourself.

its not a good thing. it just makes you look really irrisponsible, pathetic, and mentally ill.
and i know thats harsh. but its true. thats what people think. ive been through it already.

This is a wonderful thread. I cut for more than 4 years well before I was labeled "emo". I quit officially almost 2 years ago. I have had 3 slip ups since then 2 in the first couple months and one less than 3 months ago. Cutting is an addiction and extremely hard to quit. Even now I still have "cravings" thats the only way I can put it. I find taking a red crayon (nontoxic) and drawing lines across my wrists where I used to cut helps also red pens or red markers work. I just currently have a red crayon. I found the rubber band didn't work for me because I just snapped it harder and harder. I figured out though that if you want to quit you have to work really really hard at it and no one can make you. Good luck to everyone who is trying to quit and major KUDOS to those who have sucessfully quit. <333333

When I quit what helped me was like..

GOD.

So yeah just knowing his love for me helped.

And I am the type of person that thinks that things always get better cause in some way the kinda do.
So whenever I really feel that I need to I just think about how it will get better for me and how im stronger than resorting to hurting myself.

I think if you try to think about things like that it might make it better to brush off the feeling next time you have it to cut.

:]

If you post pro-cutting posts in this thread they WILL be deleted. This thread is for people who want to STOP.

I am a sophomore in high-school. I don't see how that's relevant to anything, but anyway. During our sophomore year, we are required to take one semester of Health & Wellness in order to graduate.
In our class, we have a semester long project. We have to create a healthful goal and try to acheive it for the whole semester. I bet you can guess what mine was. I felt like I had to be realistic to my teacher, instead of saying "I want to lose weight."
I was honest with him and just came right out and said I want to cut down and eventually stop cutting.
He handed it back and he was proud that I was honest with him and offered any help if necessary. Right after I just typed this I just started crying. I don't know why. I guess it's just realizing that there are people who care for me and don't want anything to happen to me, even though we fight constantly.
Anyway, for our three week update, I was honest with him and told that I had cut 2 separate times, first was three cuts, and the second was 2 cuts. He was proud that I had been honest again. We also had to provide proof, and evidence of our progress. I just spilled out everything that was on my mind.
Our next update was due today, the 14th of March. I reported that I haven't cut since January. I am very proud of myself. My evidence this time was that I have found a coping skill. Just plain out crying to my song (one that I live to). It totally works for me. I haven't cut for 2 months and I am very proud of my accomplishments.
There have been times when I have had the blade, knife, whatever in my hand, but then threw it down and just cried instead.
We also needed witnesses. I choose my freshman biology teacher and my second best friend Olivia. My biology teacher, I can just spill my thoughts and feelings out to him and he talks to me, and is very supportive of my goal and encourages me to do my best in everything I do. Olivia is very supportive also, I don't tell her everything, but I know she will help me with this, she is a Lutheran (I'm not) but I respect that, and she helps me in anyway she can.
So to sum it all up, I use my friends and peers as motivation to stop. I have cut for about 3 years. The longest time I went without it was 5 months. I have cut down dramatically, when it was just at least once or twice a week is now only once a month or less. It is possible to stop, I know and believe in everyone here that shares our pain. I hope everyone can eventually stop, no matter how long it takes, it will come one day when you won't have to reach for that piece of metal or whatever you use, and be able to be happy.
Just believe in yourself and it is possible. If you say to yourself that you know you can stop, you will be able to, over time.
With great support,
Hannah

What a great post. ^

ummm, not to be a nudge, but i have tried these and they didnt work. i have been cutting ALMOST daily because of mental stress. now it has become an addiction and i have found other ways of cutting. i dont own anything that could cut me (suggestion number 1) but now i find myself going to friends to get razors or scissors or knives just because i cant resist. i have gone to my friends for help but it has gotten to the point where they have given up on me. i worry that if my parents find out that i would be tempted by suicide so i cant go to anyone for help. i really need some help before i cut too deep. please help.

I just typed this really long post for you, but the page wouldn't load, so it got lost. Totally crap.
I just basically said that don't go to the friends house, throw everything away, watch TV, listen to your favorite song, close your eyes and pretend you're doing it even though you really aren't, write, draw, anything but that.
I've attempted suicide, yes I have, and how I don't ever want to do it again. Mainly because the behavioral hospital I went to, my experiance there only had an effect that I didn't want to do it again, was only changed because I hated it there so much, I didn't want to go back again.
Then I said how I helped my BFF through her attept. She called me and told me. I drove to her house, and sat on her couch and held her until her mom came home and then we went downstairs in the basement and played super monkey ball deluxe on her Xbox. She felt much better after that.
The next day, Monday, I looked for her and had her listen to my favorite song in the entire world, "Take My Hand" Here's the chorus : "Take my hand tonight, let's not think about tomorrow, take my hand tonight, we can find someplace to go, cause our hearts our locked forever, and our love will never die, take my hand tonight, one last time."
I absolutely love her (in a best friend forever way). She's the first person I have completely trusted in 5 years. If she was gone, I would have nothing left for me on this crappy earth. She is my awesomest and only bestest friend. Yeah I have other friends. But we care about eachother the most.
I know we only know eachother throught the 'net, and we most likely live really far apart, but I really wish I could help you, I really do. A lot of people on here do care, even though most of the relationships formed are only on here, we still care and worry about everyone.
I'll keep you in my thoughts and will be hoping that you will eventually, after time has passed, that you will eventually stop. (I'm the person who doesn't pray) so I'll just keep thinking of you, and hoping you will get better. I'll even wish for you.
I'm going to Disney World in 2 weeks. I'll make a wish down there, and will hope for you to get better, and I hope it comes true.
Even though I'm far away, I still care about the people I meet on the 'net that are severly depressed. Such as myself, because I can relate.
I went from cutting once or twice a week, to once a month or less. See, it can happen. Please, stop.
We do care, I'll be thinking of you.

You have to tell someone, if not your parents or friends, then a counselor at school, or a friends parent. ANY adult you can trust or that deals with these problems professionally.

Your parents have to know. Why would you commit suicide if you're seeking help?

It seems like a really big stressful thing to do, and you would rather not do it.. But you need to. If all else failed, you MUST tell someone, or something awful could happen, intended or not.

Please.


Write it down if you cant say the words. Make a letter about it all, and give it to that trusted person.

Help me help you save yourself from a worse pain than any blade could bring to your body.
Just listen and try your best.

Well i do agree with the guy that said dont think about others think about the damage your producing to YOURSELF i once started to cut myself because it felt good as an escape to the pain thats was surrounding me and then i talked with this friend with is very close and she said to me:

Remember who u are!

And i was like yah wtf this isnt even healthy i might develope obssession and not just that but to mention the consequences that can be fatal from me like getting tetanus, or making me go to the school counselor O_O THAT IS A CRAZY MOFFO WOMAN THAT WALKS LIKE A PEGUIN AND LOOKS LIKE A CLOWN =O not to mention that IS Senseless meaningless and stupid to cut oneself because i mean wasting blood for what nothing?

with alll those things i broke the newly formed circle i was falling to and regained conciusness of myself and man woke up from that trance >_<

A final recomendation is try to place ur emotions on something productive like art craft ; ) Poems SHOOTING GAMES =D and such

I applaud you for making this thread, it's really good.
Another tip to stay away from cutting when u want to cut, is to do something entirely else. Watch some anime, go for a walk, read, anything but sitting there thinking about what you want to do.

I used to cut, but I managed to quit, I thought so much about who I was gonna be without the cutting. Would I still be the person that I was? Would I be able to understand my friends problems even though I didnt feel the same anymore? The answer to all of it is YES! When you stop cutting, and ur done with the whole thing, then life kinda looks brighter. Its not like all ur problems go away, but, ur able to see that cutting might not be the smartest solution there is...

Back to the point: Making this thread probably helps/helped lots of people, so, good work ^^

tessxbaby wrote: i know its hard. but if u dont want to quit bad enough, of course it wont work.

actually, i don't agree with that.
People who cut (as I've done myself) feel ALONE and talking about WHY they do it and learning that OTHER PEOPLE are going through the SAME THING may help them not feel so alone.
Even if you do REALLY want to quit, it doesn't mean you will succeed.
It becomes an ADDICTION.
and i believe its more psychological than anything.
I do want to quit BUT i can't find any other way to release the pain.
No, any other EFFECTUAL way.
also, it is not recommended to snap rubber bands because that becomes an addiction too.
It's replacing cutting with snapping, still another form of self-harm.

I used to cut a lot but me and my bf did this thing where if I don't cut he won't and if he doesn't I won't so ya we both quit and promised not to do it again..now if I get the urge to cut I just do wat MistyNight suggested. Or I'll just get a red marker and draw cuts on my arm without actually cutting..it helps a bit and it goes away unlike scars..