Reddit mentions of Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation

I could not agree more . . . I used to cut when I was a teenager, and I was locked up in CCM, a WWASP program with dozens of other girls who were cutters. most people who cut do so because their emotional pain is so intense that they need a release. Usually it's not nearly as dangerous as it looks to outsiders. I found these books helpful. http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Understanding-Self-Mutilation-Steven-Levenkron/dp/0393319385/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322706277&sr=1-3 and http://www.amazon.com/Bright-Red-Scream-Self-Mutilation-Language/dp/0140280537/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322706277&sr=1-11

It's hard when friends want to help you but don't know how. It's hard to explain to them.
There is a book that I bought, read, and then lent to my friends and family to read, it seemed to help them understand a lot better.

It's called "Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation" by Steven Levenkron . If you can find it in a library, bookstore or even just order it off amazon, I'd suggest reading it and then letting friends borrow it. You can get a used copy for about $6. It's very worth it. I suggest the book to a lot of people.

Again, good luck with everything. :)

Aww, that's really romantic and I'm glad you found someone who you can be so intimate with. However, I'm sure you know that it's not a healthy thing to do and you should probably stop. There's a book that really helped me understand my own cutting, as well as get it under control. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Understanding-Self-Mutilation-Steven-Levenkron/dp/0393319385

Self-harm is scary to a lot of people. I think that for most people who never did it, cutting or hurting yourself to feel better makes about as much sense as drinking to help with sobriety. So I do understand why people often freak out over it, even if it's unhelpful. Couple that with the notion that many people have that if you punish something enough, the person will stop doing it and you have a recipe where authority figures will try to solve a problem through discipline. It doesn't work, but I can see how it happens. It's extremely uncomfortable for many people to imagine a mindset where they would cut themselves, so they refuse to think too long on a good solution and just end up reacting irrationally.

Thank you for your kind words, by the way. It's been over a decade since I've had problems with self-harm. I've learned much better ways of coping with things and life has been treating me pretty well, so it's not tempting to me at all anymore.

The book Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation is actually quite good. It might help OP to pick up and read a copy.