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by broken on February 17th, 2007

broken

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Help answer this question below.

Please share your opinion of "cutters".

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  • by Ausbabe on April 22nd, 2007

    Ausbabe

    From what I know of it, Cutting is a form of self harm and a desir to divert away from issues at hand. It is also a sign of an attempt to gain control of a situation or even 'life' itself.

    I don't like labelling people by their actions - there are 'people who cut' or 'people who choose the option of cutting'. Labelling someone as a 'cutter' means that's the thing that identifies them the most and what happens when they stop? Do they then become a reformed 'cutter'?

    The same way, I don't like labels such as 'alcoholic'.

    I use the terms 'cutter' and 'alcoholic' but in my subconscious I don't like doing it. What if we started referring to everyone we knew by what we considered their most difficult to manage or overcome habit - 'Fat', 'Swearer', 'Tramp'.

    There are people who face these issues but they cannot overcome them if they're not given any hope that they can - which is why I don't like the labels.

    Anyway....

    I think someone who 'cuts' on an ongoing basis and it gets to the point where they make excuses for the scars or they cover their arms to hide the evidence, they do need help.

    'Cutting' is a sign that a person isn't dealing with what they are experiencing - it'd be referred to in a professional setting as 'maladaptive behaviour' (as well as other terms).

    I honestly think though that some 'cutting' starts from curiosity - we're all curious about our own bodies and will poke and prod ourselves (especially as children) and sometimes we like to inflict pain just to see what our threshold is or to see what pain feels like and see if we really would let go at the right hand.

    'Cutting' is just like 'Burning' - people who burn themselves with cigarettes / lighters.

    Above all and going back to what I'd said earlier, when I've come across young people who cope via cutting, I attempt to deter them, then talk to them and hopefully help them find better strategies to cope other than by turning in and choosing self inflicted physical pain.

    Comments

    • I cut myself for years, from about age 13 to 19, and I never had a problem with the term "cutter." Just because someone called me that doesn't mean that's all I was. I was also called a singer, and artist, a student, a girl... one name doesn't make up who we are. We are many things. If the question had been about "your opinion of artists" no one would have objected. It's kind of interesting how people react to this sort of thing. Haha. It's funny, actually, to observe that people who have never cut are WAY more offended by the topic and sensative to the way it's talked about than people who would call themselves cutters.

      broken

      by broken on April 22nd, 2007

    • the word cutter definetly brings me down.

      gabriela36

      by gabriela36 on May 8th, 2009

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