For some it's a great release of emotional pain they may be feeling. It makes that pain physical and therefore real. An addiction may come about because of the adrenaline rush they feel, especially if it's a way of controling a part of their lives. It would be hard to stop for both reasons. Others may do it because they want the attention because they are crying out but are not being listened to.

Yes.

Yes, I do. Although, I've done it a few times and haven't gotten addicted to it.

yes it is.

I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking of "Addiction" solely through the relatively narrow cross section of addictive behaviour that's been publisized and exploited the most in popular media, in fact, anything that provides a means of comfort, release, or escape can become an addiction, especially if the person indulging in it is pre-disposed to addictive behaviour. And in my experience, self-harm is a near perfect example of a non-chemical means of escape/release that can cross the line between a risky habit and a dangerous addiction very easily.

Cutting can become an addiction if the individual who cuts cannot find another way to escape the emotional anguish they experience. The truth is that emotional pain can often be worse than physical pain. When people cut themselves, it allows them to temporarily escape the emotional turmoil they’re experiencing. Cutting can also be seen as a punishment for falling short of one’s own goals, standards….so as long as the cutters see themselves as failing to reach their goals, standards, etc…they may punish themselves through self-mutilation. Obviously, these reasons do not apply to everybody…but, I know, for sure, that is does apply to some people.

I think we all harm ourselves in many ways all the time..those of us who think of ourselves as "losers"..those of us who drink too much, eat too much, take drugs..those of us who hold on to hurts caused by others and keep reliving the pain over and over. Until we can accept ourselves and like ourselves, it is easy to keep beating ourselves up..after all, we make ourselves an always available target.

If the self-harming person feels powerless over the action. That is, obsessed and compelled, cannot stop the action after the thought comes, then yes, i think it is. If a person does it once and then has to do it again, then yes. I believe the only way to treat addiction, is by not doing the first one. This is not easy. Obsession and compulsion needs to stop.

No. I think it's something people use to try and solve their problem(s) or make them more bearable, but it doesn't work past that initial cut or burn or whatever, and so the issue continues and so does the harm. If it actually WORKED to take the pain away, then no one would KEEP doing it.

I look at addiction to mean both physical and mental dependence on something. I don't think that self harm is an addiction, but I do think it is a way of coping with emotion. I think that people continue to harm themselves not because of addiction but because it is the only way their body knows how to cope with an overflow of emotion.

I don't know if people will understand this and i'm not saying its ok, but its the only alternative when nothing else helps. The banging the head thing(in my case) qualifies as does the cutting thing. We want an immediate relieve and sometimes those are the only things available. Hell i know its not healthy, but who can wait to find something constructive do to harm yourself.

Odd, i dont self mutilate, but i get a kinda high off of biking till my lungs start burning or driving myself to dehydration. Although, i'm trying to work on my endurance so this doesn't happen much.

Coming from someone who's been cutting for almost 5yrs now, yes it is. I can't tell you the medical or psychological proof but when You've tried to quit as often as I have, you find that its not so easy.

yes its a hard fact

yeah, it's an addiction. you do it once and you get pleasure from it. you get something from it. then the next time you feel awful you remember how good you felt after cutting. then you cut again. i actually get urges. mentally it feels like i need it. physically i get really anxious and start bouncing my leg and flicking my fingers. i've been a cutter for 8 years off and on. as soon as something happens, i go back to it. i was a year free of it and then i graduated college, my sister got engaged, and my grandmother died. it felt like everything was changing. i wasn't ready for change. the first thing i thought was i need to cut. i need to.

i find it addictive. and its really hard for me to stop. im haveing great big issues with it.

I think that self harm is addicting in a way. I have been cutting off and on for about 2 years and the reason it is so hard for me to stop is because I feel like it is the only pain in my life that I can control. Cutting to me is sort of a way of releiving my sadness. When I do cut its normally not bad but to me its like when blood flows out the sadness flows out with it. I will want to stop and try to stop but when somthing happens I turn back to it. When I started, it hurt and thats what I wanted but now on the few occasions that I do cut it gives me a strange scence of happiness and releif. I guess when you look at the big picture, yes, cutting is an addiction and if a person has made up their mind that they want to cut then they will untill they have the will- power to stop.

:(

yeah, definitely. i know a lot of people get sick of cutting after a while, and the bad outweighs the good and they want to stop. if it wasn't an addiction they would be able to stop.

how did we jump from self harm to cutting? self harm could be smoking a cigarette. or chewing your fingernails. or chewing on the inside of your cheek. its a nervous habit at best. self harm is picking at a scab on your arm. self harm is shaving for gawd's sake.

Cutting releases endorphins to the brain. It makes the cutter feel good. That's why it's so hard to stop.

YES we all have to be addicted to something.. some are addicted to drugs, some tv, some cigs,some shopping and some cutting we ALL have to have an addiction that is something that makes us human makes us strive

I hear cutting is very addictive.

nah...i think it feels great running that blade down your chest.

i do think its an addiction, i know i am addicted, but i beleive there are so many different reasons people can become additced, i find myself falling into a few catorgies. many can fall in love with the pschycal (sorry about the poor spelling) sight of the controlled blood running down their skin, and that feeling of running your hand over an open wound. others can become addicted to the rush of endorphins realsed from it. and others, like myself can become additced to what it means to cut, to your history, when you have cut since your teen years that sadness assosiated with it can become all you know, and thats what you live, and you want to life like that, as twisted as it can sound. last year i was at my happiest, (hadnt cut for almost 6 months) or so i thought untill it hit me one day and that urge to feel the comfort of the sadness and the blood hit that felt so much like home. i often wonder if i will ever kick the habit by myself or if i ever go to thepary, that it will help me kick it. i find it so interesting that we can all as strangers talk about it, yet wouldnt mention it to most friends. although i geuss we are amoung our own kind here. so glad i found Absg. xo.

i'm not sure i would call it addiction. i don't know what i would call it. but when the aching feeling i get when i feel the need to inflict pain upon myself is gone and i feel that release after doing it, yeah that would be the addiction. not the actual self harm itself, but the feeling, the almost high, you get afterwards.

it's more of a physiological addiction. i've been a cutter off and on now for about 9 years now...ouch. this pass year i've finding it harder to get that same relief though. i'm not sure why. maybe i'm just using other methods to cope. once you learn something works, you do it again and again. it becomes a habit. the mind starts to program itself when you feel overwhelmed (or whatever it may be)...this happens...this follows...and i feel better. even though it's not a good coping method, it makes everything okay for a little bit. that made it worth it.

I think it definatley is, it's so hard to stop. Little voices just keep urging you on... well, that's just me.

it releases a hormone in your body that makes it feel good...makes the pain go away.i found this on a medical site about emos i think that it is even bofore the site told me of it

Anything can be an addiction and the repetition of it makes it hard to stop. There must be a willingness and that usually comes with finding something to do that the mind is convinced is better.

It is a mental problem and should get help for it as soon as one can.

Cutting is a way of choosing physical pain over emotional pain. Can it be addicting? I'm sure it can get to that point. for masochistic people it is defenitely an addiction. Those who have enough emotional pain may want an escape but pain is not the way.

"No. I think it's something people use to try and solve their problem(s) or make them more bearable, but it doesn't work past that initial cut or burn or whatever, and so the issue continues and so does the harm. If it actually WORKED to take the pain away, then no one would KEEP doing it. " - Icebox You could say the same exact thing about meth or cocaine. I believe it's an addiction. I know that I can't stop.

me i do sorta see it as an addiction ive been doing it for so long i cant stop my self when i get tio upset and stuff, i see it that in stead of going onto drugs and alcohol i self harm thats the way i personaly see it.

yes i think it is. i used to cut my self everyday, because i really had problems, was upset, didn't know where to turn, etc. i've talked through them now, and sorted most of them out to a degree. but still i cut occasionaly, just about once a month or so. not necessarily because i'm upset at the time, just because i have an urge, and feel i have to do it. but i can contain it better now. i can stop myself sometimes, when i feel the need to, which means i cut a lot less now. hope i helped:)

Yes. Beyond a doubt and completely. Take it from someone who had a harder time quitting cutting than her aunt who smoked for 40 years. It's a terrible addiction I'm glad I quit

Yes it is.I wish I could stop.

it can be an addiction to some extent. but people chose what kind of pleasure they enjoy. i us to enjoy pain and i would cut myself for fun. pain is what you make of it and i thought it was fun. my mom got that stuck in my head. i changed but i dont mind pain even tho i don’t give it to myself on purpose. its like when someone falls a laughs they tell them self pain if funny then its fun

Yes. I knnow from personal experience that it can become and addiction.