I think this is a very interesting question.
In the United States "Substance Dependence" such as addiction to alcohol or drugs is defined by meeting any 3 of the following 7 criteria at one time or another during a 12 month (1 year) period of time.:
I'm going to bold the criteria I feel that can occur with cutting. and italicize and change the color of my opinion of why that criteria can occur with cutting.
- Tolerance or markedly increased amounts of the substance to achieve intoxication or desired effect or markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of substance
This criteria can be seen in cutting when a person needs to cut more or deeper each "episode" of cutting to achieve the same amount of relief as the first time they cut
- Withdrawal symptoms or the use of certain substances to avoid withdrawal symptoms
- Use of a substance in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
This criteria can be seen in cutting when someone cuts more cuts/deeper cuts at one time than they planned, or continued regularly cutting for a longer period of time than they had planned.
- persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use
This criteria can be seen in cutting when people who cut want to/try to stop but are unable to reduce or stop cutting.
- Involvement in chronic behavior to obtain the substance, use the substance, or recover from its effects
- Reduction or abandonment of social, occupational or recreational activities because of substance use
This criteria can be seen in cutting when people who cut avoid certain people or situations because they cut. (such as avoiding wearing short sleeves/swimming after cutting so people do not see the scars)
- Use of substances even though there is a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance
This criteria can be seen in cutting when someone continues to cut even after they have medical complications when they cut, such as passing out from blood loss or infection.
In my opinion Cutters can experience 5 of the 7 same signs of dependency substance abusers can, and since you only need to display 3 of the criteria during a year to be considered "dependent" I believe cutting can be considered an addiction.
Many people believe cutting can activate the pleasure centers in the brain- providing a temporary high. Although I do not believe this is commonly done- some psychiatrists prescribe Opiate Antagonists (medication which is sometimes prescribed to recovering heroin addicts to help them stay clean by blocking opiates from stimulating the receptors ) to long term cutters because it is believed it will decrease the high associated with cutting, therefore making it easier to stop cutting. I personally was on Naltrexone for several months to try to help me stop cutting, and didn't feel it made much of a difference other than upsetting my stomach.
If I were to measure my dependency on cutting based on the criteria above, i would have to say YES, I am absolutely addicted to cutting. I have dependency symptoms 1,3,4 and 6. I sometimes build up a tolerance to cutting and need to cut more and more, i tell myself i will only cut a certain number of times and then cut more than that, I've tried to quit many times and "relapsed", i wear long sleeves and don't swim to avoid people seeing healing cuts.
I tell myself I don't need to cut, and then I go and do it anyway. :confused:
does anyone else have thoughts about this?
Megan