What drives people to SH?

[DivineSpark]

What drives you to SH?

 

[timorousTruant]

For me personally, I struggle with very severe racing thoughts and SH is the only reliable method I've found that just immediately shuts it all up. It's wonderful how fast my brain stops giving a shit about whatever I'm anxious about when I'm in physical pain and

Spoiler

can see my own fat tissue.

 

[Hollowman]

It's better to feel pain than nothing. I don't cut I whip myself with various things. Sometimes I punch myself on my chest hoping it'll stop my heart. I used to heat up metal and burn myself but I grew out of that.

 

[grapevoid]

I think there are two aspects
-severe anxiety- where sh is a release or a shock to your nervous system which relieves the anxiety
-severe apathy- feeling as though you feel nothing and feel as though you need to shock your system to feel alive
When I was younger and engaged in self harm, it was because of anxiety. I self harmed to stop the cycle.

 

[areyousafe??]

It releases emotional pain, it strangely feels good.

 

[Namelesa Graves]

• distract from feelings of anxiety or emptiness or other extreme mental pain
• to punish myself if I have done something wrong that I feel guilt for
• to physically show that I am in mental pain
• kinda like the look of my cuts and scars

 

[sximii]

Sometimes it helps to deal with overwhelming emotions and I'm not given the opportunity/not sure how to express them in a different way. But it's become a habit, and very often I just do it for no reason

 

[EvisceratedJester]

I self-harmed as a way to cope with my emotions, as a form of punishment, and as a way to feel like I actually have control over something (sometimes it feels like I'm not allowed to just do what I want).

 

[Forveleth]

Similar to what others have said. I am sick of my anxiety and depression and when they get too much, cutting helps turn them off. It lets my brain focus on the pain instead of all of the other shit going on in my head.

• kinda like the look of my cuts and scars

This too!

 

[ThatGuyOverThere]

For me I would never SH by physically harming myself, but rather would mentally punish myself for everything I believed I had failed in my life, like not living up to certain social standards or the expectations of others.

Sometimes while I'm depressed, I will intentionally seek out depressing things like reading reports on horrible tragedies or reading about statistic on horrible things in order to educate myself on the real world, instead of the fake happy go lucky life we are all taught to believe in. though this usually only results in me becoming more depressed, and has intern made my view point on the world very nihilistic, which only prolongs my depression which causes that cycle to start all over.

but even thought it seems strange I kind of like the feeling of being depressed, it doesn't feel good in the traditional sense, but there is a sort of comfort to the feeling of immense sadness/emptiness, that seemingly can't be found in happiness.

 

[Lxions]

it helps my anxiety. i have autism and get severely stressed, overwhelmed, and overstimulated. it drowns it out and gives me that feeling of control.