Do You Know A Cutter?
It isn’t about trying to commit suicide. It’s about the pain actually. It isn’t a suicide gesture. Remember, it’s about making the pain that is felt in that moment be released like a pressure cap so your teen feels better.
This is about coping. Almost all teens that develop better coping skills will tell you, “It’s stupid,” but don’t take this at face value. There’s something that comes to them either through the influence of others exposing them to this coping or through an innate feeling of wanting to stop the exponential feeling of their pain, anxiety or emptiness that they think to stop it through the infliction of pain. It is almost as though to stop the pain of the ankle sprain they wack their head against the wall as a distraction. It’s about the coping. It is scary and it will make you afraid when you see how badly the wound can be inflicted in order to stop that pain.
Cutting is an example of self-mutilation or self-injury. It doesn’t always, but usually requires support to change the maladaptive coping skill and develop better ones that are more positive. Skills that allow them to feel the pain, but manage it. Grow from it. It helps if you can hear what they’re suffering about. This means having empathy to hear that they are struggling with their sexual identity, their perception of themselves, their body image, their loneliness, their mission in life, their decisions that got them to this moment. Please be patient. Your teen needs your patience and your willingness to listen.
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