- I don’t want scars
- It hurts other people
- It makes me feel guilty and a failure
- It is not natural to hurt yourself deliberately
- It doesn’t solve anything
- It adds to your problems
- It is damaging
- I am strong enough not to do it
- Once I am over it I can help others with better empathy
- It has run its course and I’m not going back now
- Cutting triggers memories of other bad times when I have cut
- I have better things to do with my time (e.g. eat chocolate)
- My fight will give strength to others who are struggling
- It doesn’t serve a purpose anymore
- I don’t like the awkward questions
- It makes me hate myself
- I don’t deserve to be hurt
- I can give myself rewards for not cutting
- I don’t want all my memories of my teenage years to be about cutting
- I don’t like the feeling the next morning when you remember what you’ve done
- Because it hurts!
- I must tackle the problem rather than avoid it
- I don’t like having to wear long sleeves
- The feelings that “I want to cut” are short urges that pass
- I am a beautiful person inside and out
- Self harm doesn’t heal the pain it only delays it
- I am hurting enough as it is
- I do not deserve to feel guilty any longer
- My life is worth everything
- Think of how long I have gone without cutting
- Every minute I don’t cut I am succeeding
- I might blunt the knife
- It is messy!
- I am worth more than that
- I hate having to break the news to people that I have cut and seeing people’s disappointment
- I am strong. I can and will get through this
- Self harm is the same as any other addiction - the longer I go the easier it will get
- If I can get through this I can get through anything
- What I’m going through is horrible but it’s only a short period of my life
- It is not a weakness to ask for help
- Gradually I will learn to recognise my triggers and understand myself better
- You’d never want your friends to cut so stop being a hypocrite!
20 comments:
A great list!
your blog is an inspiration =0)
Ta Drifter, not all reasons work for all people but cling to any you can I say :)
Ta Anonymous and Hi!
We did look at a shorter list back in June but in never hurts to have more :)
I just did a search on google to find a list of reasons not to self harm and found this. Somehow reading these things, knowing I didn't write them meant something to me. I'm not going to cut tonight. Thank you.
Sometimes Anonymous its just one day at a time, ive had to break that down to just getting through one hour at a time...Im glad you found it helpful, that you went ok and hope you drop by again.
yeah, this is first to come up when u type 'reasons not to self harm' into google. its good, i like it. except i cant help feeling sometimes that none of those reasons are as good as the reasons to do it. but somehow ive gone over 3 months without cutting, so yay. favourite one: I might blunt the knife! so true... it happens. xxx
I would like to thank you for posting this list. I have just past the two year mark since I last cut myself and lately it is filling my thoughts, especially tonight. Reading this has reminded me of how long I have held victory over my urges. I especially liked "It has run its course and I’m not going back now" & "Cutting triggers memories of other bad times when I have cut" Thank you so much & stay strong everyone.
I have another reason - ineligilibility to join the armed forces, which was my dream job. Also having to tell your children what you have done to yourself in the future. Very young people (one of which I definitely was) can't even grasp the ways it can affect your future. Just don't even start, it's not worth it at all!
Thank you for saving me today.. it's been 3 weeks since I last cut. I really want to move passed it all but today I did not think I could cope. I didn't want to cut but I felt I had no choice so I sat down and looked for reasons not to cut and I found this site and it said everything I couldn't so thank you.
I especially liked 'You’d never want your friends to cut so stop being a hypocrite!' :)
Another reason in my opinion is, since we were all looking for reasons to not self harm, we all did not really want to self harm..
I self harmed because my painful past was haunting me, but I've decided to stop, because I dont want to have even more bad memories (of me selfharming) on top of that.. (I dont want my memories of teenage years to be about cutting, no..)
Sending everyone strength and love. You all deserve to be happy.
To who ever posted this: Thank you so very much i can see from reading other comments you have helped a lot of people and posting this has stopped me tonight also :) its also made me feel a lot better too :)
I've not cut in 8 years, the last time i did i was a teenager. I've been trying to tell myself that i shouldn't now that i've got older and leant not to.
Anyhow, i'm teetering on the edge. thanks for your list. i think it's helping.
Thank you. I have not cut in almost 11 months, but lately it is harder and harder not to. I am afraid of what my mom or my boyfriend would think if they knew, but it is just so hard. This list and your blog have given me a place to come to and things to remember. Thank you.
thankyou. ive never done this before. i was scared, thought that this would some how make it stop hurting.
but this list made me think if i have made it this far, theres no reason to start now. thankyou. just thankyou
What if you only cut 'cause you like blood, and its nothing to do with emotions :L
thank you so much for this.all the reasons were great but i have to say that the one that touched me the most was "I hate having to break the news to people that I have cut and seeing people’s disappointment".i won't be cutting tonight because of this:)
I'm fourteen. I recently cut myself. I'm suffering from depression and anxiety. Due, to a disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. A disease that can't be cured. And I've lived with it for as long as I can remember, and on just tired of it... I just want it to go away.
I'm almost two months clean from cutting, and with my experience, I believe all these reasons are sooo relatable and great! Now that I've stopped self harming, I can finally relax, focus on better things, feel less anxious around other people, and I can finally wear a REAL smile :D
I'm going to I'm not strong.
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