Why do seemingly happy and successful people self harm themselves?

I don't know why, all I know is people that enjoy that shit ain't worth your time. Get the fuck outta there

>>18282810
Cutting yourself releases a lot of calming substances. They mostly do it to cleanse their mind from unwanted thoughs, and after you just get through the pain, it can get pretty addictive. It's a weird concept, yes, but self harm can become an addiction hard to stop.

>>18282820

Can confirm. I don't think everyone does it because they're unhappy because of things in their life, depression can also be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, assuming he does it because of that. Personally, I've done it to get rid of bad thoughts, mainly suicidal ideation. I don't want to kill myself, but when I get those thoughts I don't think rationally. Self harm calms me down and makes the thoughts go away. Though since starting antidepressants a couple of months ago I find it much easier to not give into that thought process to begin with, much easier to rationalize any negative feelings and work through it.

>>18282820
>>18282911

So people often do this their whole lives?

How does it make you feel calm?

Do people ever stop doing it?

I assume he has been doing this for an extended period because of how many old scars are all over his arms. I don't think it's possible he could have even done all that in 1 year time.

Do adults often continue this behavior?

He's almost 30

>>18282925
Run.

>>18282812
There is nothing wrong with self harm ffs.
I do it too occasionally when I'm bored. I observe the feelings of pain and watch my skin being cut and blood oozing out.
I'm just curious. And I don't mind the pain.

There's nothing wrong with it when your intentions aren't bad.
Some people do it to escape bad things happening in their lives, or some are depressed/suicidal.

All depends on the person's intentions.
Self harm isn't inherently a bad thing.

>>18282925
>>18282820
I don't do self harm, but i was curious too once and searched the internet about it. Like any addiction, it really depends on the person to stop it or not. Self harming is not taken as a serious addiction by many, just like porn, games or whatever, so i think it's hard to find places to get some treatment or idk. It is not healthy and helping the person out instead of just assuming he is a murderer or something is the right thing to do. So, help him out. There are other ways to calm yourself and one of them is having a good company.

>>18282933
Why?

>>18282945

I see.

Are people often able to quit doing it?

Do people generally do it out of anger, or sadness, or depression? Which one?


>>18282981

Do most people continue to self harm though their whole lives?

Like that strong of an addiction?


I just text him and asked him

"sorry to bring this up again, Just curious....What emotions do you feel when you are going to cut your self?"

he said "I only do it when things get too strong for me, An I can't calm myself down. It gives me an instant release of stress without saying anything or telling anyone how I'm feeling.

I don't do it often. Maybe once every couple months.....No worries!"


I'm not afraid of him and I don't ever think he would harm me or anything like that. I'm just trying to understand all this because I've never met someone who self harms themselves

>>18283006
I think it is a harmless addiction. Like coffee. It's fine if you're addicted to coffee and can't easily quit.
Yes, I stopped doing it because I didn't have time, and I know others who stopped too.
In my observation they do it to either calm themselves down, or to punish themselves.
Again, nothing wrong until they're suicidal or in danger of harming themselves.

And he's lying about the once in a couple of months. I said the exact same thing when friends were worried about me and asked me something similar.

"helping" him might not do anything. I'd say most probably he doesn't need "help". He's just fine.

>>18283080
Thank you very much!


I greatly appreciate the time you took to answer my questions

>>18282810
Hi OP. Anon above is spot on. It's an addiction, you kind of enter a trance. It just makes you feel really, really calm. But it has nothing to do with wanting to kill yourself in most cases.

I don't cut myself, but I pick my skin obsessively. It's called dermatillomania or something. Been doing it for ten years and have ugly scars all over the upper parts of my body. It hurts and itches and I'm very ashamed of it. I do it whenever I'm bored, stressed or upset.

If he doesn't want to talk about it, don't push it. But for me, it was kind of relieving to admit it to one of my friends.

>>18282925

I started when I was 11 and last time I did it was about a month or so ago, I'm 25. There have been times where I haven't cut for years, but then something happens that makes me feel really bad. I want to stop, I feel bad that I may never be able to wear bikinis or short skirts when I'm attractive enough to do so. I started going to therapy and I'm going to work on better coping mechanisms than hurting myself, it's just all I've ever known.