{"id":3871,"date":"2015-03-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/cutting-why-people-self-harm\/"},"modified":"2020-05-11T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T20:49:09","slug":"cutting-why-people-self-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/cutting-why-people-self-harm\/","title":{"rendered":"Cutting: Why People Self-Harm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-11595\" src=\"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/to-write-love-on-her-arms.jpg\" alt=\"to write love on her arms\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>This is an uncomfortable topic for most folks, but it is very important not to shy away from it whether you struggle with cutting or self-harm yourself, or if know someone who does. \u00a0There is a lot of stigma surrounding this topic, many myths, and the subject matter itself is difficult for many to discuss because of the fears surrounding blood and their perceived implications of cutting. \u00a0It becomes much easier to talk about, and the stigma begins to fall away, when we can understand what is really going on.<\/p>\n<p>Cutting is a coping mechanism. \u00a0It is an effective method (if only in the short-term) of symptom management. \u00a0I say that it is effective because it works, temporarily. \u00a0If it didn&#8217;t work, people wouldn&#8217;t do it. \u00a0In this way, self-harm is like drinking alcohol, doing drugs, or having any other kind of addiction. \u00a0It soothes anxiety and is a strategy for dealing with uncomfortable emotions when the person has no other known method for doing so. \u00a0It can be a distraction, a release, and a way of expressing feelings. \u00a0The problem is, just like with any of the other addictions I mentioned, it&#8217;s efficacy diminishes over time and is replaced with more problems later. \u00a0It doesn&#8217;t address the underlying pain, doesn&#8217;t heal the cause, and perpetuates the need for coping mechanisms.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-11594\" src=\"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2015-03-23-at-6.56.07-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-03-23 at 6.56.07 PM\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" \/>What is needed is to get to the root of the problem and heal it. \u00a0Self-harm is a symptom of a deeper issue, much like pain is a symptom of a broken ankle. \u00a0If someone has a broken bone like this, it is pretty ineffective treatment to just shoot their ankle full of pain-killers and hope that that will make it better for the rest of their life. \u00a0That is not an effective treatment at all, and the pain-killing will have to continue repeatedly. \u00a0In order to be healed for the long-term, the bone must be set, casted, healed correctly over time, and some physical therapy may be needed to rebuild strength. \u00a0The same is true with emotional issues. \u00a0Symptom management may work for the short-term, but ultimately healing the core issue is what will make the symptom behavior, like cutting, unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>Some myths about self-harm:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>It is done to get attention.<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0Most people actually cut in secret.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>People who cut are suicidal. \u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Cutting is a coping mechanism. \u00a0While there may be an increased risk for suicide among those who self-harm, it doesn&#8217;t automatically mean someone is suicidal at all.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>People who self-harm are &#8220;crazy&#8221; or &#8220;dangerous&#8221;. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Labeling someone who copes with anxiety, depression, or emotional pain in this way does more harm than good. \u00a0Many other people suffer from these things as well. \u00a0Because someone uses self-harm as a way to cope does not mean they are crazy or dangerous.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is so much more I could talk about on this subject, but I&#8217;ll wrap up here for today and write on it more another time. \u00a0If you struggle with anxiety or depression and use self-harm to cope with it, or if you know someone who does, there is help available. \u00a0We can work on healing the underlying cause and find more effective ways of dealing with difficult and overwhelming emotions. \u00a0Please email us at support@healingheartsofindy.com if you&#8217;d like to talk more about it.<\/p>\n<p>Healing Hearts provides counseling services to the surrounding communities of Indianapolis, Fishers, Carmel, Zionsville, Westfield, Noblesville, and Geist. <strong>E-Counseling<\/strong> is available for residents of Indiana. Call or text today to set up your appointment. <strong><a href=\"tel: 3172183038\">317-218-3038<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2015 Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LSW<\/p>\n<div class=\"N_BLOG_VIDEO_HIDDEN\">[su_youtube url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LWnCaZ-D7YM&#8221;]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is an uncomfortable topic for most folks, but it is very important not to shy away from it whether you struggle with cutting or self-harm yourself, or if know someone who does. \u00a0There is a lot of stigma surrounding this topic, many myths, and the subject matter itself is difficult for many to discuss [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23,1],"tags":[394,445,661,465,466,437,468,402,469,434,510,424,471,1629,576,476,689,638,407,477,479,447,420,1630,1631,483,436,485,421,486],"class_list":["post-3871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-anxiety","category-uncategorized","tag-abandonment","tag-addiction","tag-addictions","tag-anger","tag-anxiety","tag-change","tag-co-dependency","tag-codependency","tag-communication-issues","tag-control","tag-controlling","tag-counseling","tag-couples-counseling","tag-cutting","tag-depression","tag-emotional-issues","tag-emotional-pain","tag-healing","tag-indianapolis-marriage-counseling","tag-insecurity","tag-love","tag-marriage-counseling","tag-recovery","tag-self-harm","tag-self-injury","tag-self-worth","tag-shame","tag-therapy","tag-trauma","tag-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4476,"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions\/4476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healingheartsofindy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}