How to Stop Cutting or Burning

Cutting and burning are forms of self-injury, also known as self-harm or self-mutilation. Some people who are in deep emotional pain express their emotions by cutting or burning their emotions onto their bodies. Many people who cut or burn themselves have a stoic demeanor. When they are angry or sad, they repress those emotions. Because emotions must have an outlet, these people cut or burn the rage or pain onto their bodies. They do not feel the physical pain in the moment, but the release from the emotional intensity is instantaneous. Because cutting or burning instantly and effectively stops the pain in the short-term, people continue to use these coping mechanisms, even though their bodies become covered with scars. You do not have to stay enslaved to cutting or burning. Here is how you can stop cutting or burning yourself.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Journal
• Pen
• Red marker (for people who cut)
• Strong desire to heal
• Patience

1. Determine the underlying cause of your intense emotions. People do not cut or burn themselves for the small aggravations of life. Cutting and burning are common among people who have suffered from trauma, such as childhood sexual abuse. Until you identify what is driving the intensity, you will have a hard time letting go of cutting or burning yourself.

2. Heal the underlying pain that is driving the cutting or burning. Cutting and burning are symptoms of much deeper pain. Doing the healing work with a qualified therapist with experience in counseling people with your trauma history will facilitate the process.

3. Learn how to express your emotions. You are carving your emotions onto your body because they have no other outlet. Try writing your feelings in a journal, and be sure to label each emotion as you experience it. Many people who cut or burn themselves are so disconnected from their emotions that they are truly unable to identify each emotion. However, by looking at your scars, you can see tangible evidence that you do experience emotions. As you give your emotions a voice, you will feel less compulsion to harm your body.

4. Develop positive coping tools for managing your emotions. Try doing yoga, exercising, playing a musical instrument or anything else that helps you feel better about yourself.

5. Give yourself a cooling off period when you feel the urge to cut or burn yourself. Rather than harm yourself immediately, try using a positive coping tool first for a minute or two. Extend the cooling off period as you build confidence in positive coping tools.

6. Minimize the physical damage. Try marking your body with a red marker instead of cutting your skin. Use a blunt object that does not break the skin. If you must cut or burn yourself, make more shallow cuts or burns.

7. Forgive yourself. If you do cut or burn, do not generate negative energy toward yourself over it. Instead, view yourself with compassion. The intensity of the emotions you are facing is stronger than the physical pain you experienced by harming your body. Comfort yourself instead of beating yourself up over past actions.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not judge your progress with a pass/fail standard. Instead, celebrate any progress you make, such as delaying cutting or burning yourself by a few minutes or hours.
• The more you label your emotions and talk about them, the sooner the urges to harm yourself will subside. Try to work up the courage to talk with a friend about your emotions.
• Be patient with your progress. People who self-injure are dealing with deep emotional pain, and it takes time to heal the aftermath of trauma.
• If you cut or burn yourself too deeply, you can cause serious injury to yourself. Keep a first aid kit handy each time you cut or burn yourself and seek medical attention if needed.
• People who have struggled with self-injury will always be vulnerable to slipping back into old patterns. Even after you conquer the cutting or burning, stay mindful of anything that can trigger a relapse.

[FaithAllen]

on 10/20/2008 Yes, cutting is a compulsion. Until you learn how to talk about your emotions and process them, you will continue to feel an overwhelming compulsion to cut.

I write about this a lot on my blog. Feel free to check it out: www.faithallen.wordpress.com

- Faith

[Jenna123]

on 10/15/2008 I have been cutting myself for ten years. I tired to stop,its so hard to do that. Its like addication. I have friends who use it do that. They have stop, they helping me with it now. Truely I really need help. I'm going to get help before its to late. :) :)

[FaithAllen]

on 4/3/2008 Slowing down is definitely worth celebrating. I hope that you are replacing this coping tool with another, more positive one.

Take care,

- Faith

[KendraFayee]

on 3/31/2008 I have cutt for about two years & I have tired to stop
& I know how hard it truly is & I am still trying to stop to this day.
I have slowed it done A LOT.!


=]]

[FaithAllen]

on 3/17/2008 We need to talk about the "taboo" topics in order to heal. :0)

- Faith