Advice for cutting addiction

[will was here]

I was talking to a friend earlier and I came to a realization. It has to do with perhaps why people who cut have such a hard time quitting. I felt it was important for other people to hear this as well as they work to stop their self harm. It is this.
In any addiction, and yes I believe cutting can be an addiction, one of the key things that keep us from breaking that addiction is being told we are not allowed to do it or that it is wrong. sort of like a person with fear of heights wants to jump when they see they are at the edge of a cliff. They are so afraid of falling they try to fall so they can get some control. it's that loss of control that's so terrifying. That fear of there's something wrong with us or we don't want this to happen makes it happen. Could it be that sometimes we push against something so much that it pushes us back from our goal. Like swimming. you have to go with the water to stay afloat.
So I guess what i'm saying is hurting yourself is bad but it isn't the end of the world when you mess up. You cannot and should not ever beat yourself up because it will only make the healing process harder. You could potentially push yourself backward. all that pressure from the haters in the world, (people who would judge you for your struggle with self harm and the people who make you feel guilty) none of them matter. only you matter and only you killing the addiction. killing that need to self harm. of course this might be more helpful if the situation(s) that caused you to SH in the first place are solved.
We all have our battles and we all have addictions. SH is no less important then any of the others.

[Tigereyes]

Thank you for sharing this. What you said makes a lot of sense, and I think it might help people stop cutting. Although I haven't self-harmed much, the times I have, I've noticed that one of the reasons I wanted to do it so much is because it's something that is considered bad and something I shouldn't do. And then when you screw up you want to do it even more. Yet it makes you feel better and in control. I think that there are more factors involved such as the problems a person faces in life and the fact that it is a coping method (because inflicting physical pain upon oneself actually stimulates pain receptors in our brains which cause chemicals to be released in order to make us feel better). But this is something I never really considered as a main factor before. Thank you.

[xxprincessxx]

Thank you for sharing!
I really loved the way that you put that!