How To Stop Cutting: Ways To Help Yourself And Others

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Medical News TodaySubscribeHow to stop yourself or someone else from cutting

Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — Written by Lana Burgess on February 21, 2019

9 ways to stop cutting
How to help someone else
Prevention
When to see a doctor
Summary

Cutting is a form of self-harm that can become a habit. With the right support, many people who cut learn how to stop.

Self-harm, including cutting, is not uncommon. Anyone of any age may be affected by self-harm, but it is more common among people in their teens.

The sense of relief from cutting can be so reinforcing that it may be difficult to stop doing it, compelling people to cut again the next time they feel overwhelmed.

If cutting becomes a habit, people may find it hard to resist the urge, but there are many ways to learn to stop. Not every strategy works for everyone, but most people will find a way that works for them.

This article explores strategies to stop cutting. It also looks at ways to manage the causes of self-harm and what support is available.

9 ways to stop cutting

Here are nine ways to help anyone who self-harms to resist the urge to cut:

1. Distract yourself

Person walking at night — A person can use distraction tactics, such as going for a walk or listening to music, to help resist the urge to cut.

Research suggests that young people who self-harm often do so impulsively. For this reason, cutting prevention methods focus on finding alternative ways to manage distress.

Distraction tactics may help resist the urge to cut. A person can try to distract themselves by:

calling a friend
counting to 1,000
watching a film or favorite TV series
making a cup of tea or a snack
doing some housework
going for a walk

Distracting themselves may help a person delay cutting until the urge has passed.

2. Practice self-care

Cutting may be a response to deep emotional pain and sadness. A way to manage these emotions without cutting is through self-care.

Self-care is any activity that promotes well-being by making a person feel soothed or comforted.

Self-care activities to try include:

having a long bath or shower
listening to relaxing music
curling up in a soft blanket
cooking a healthful meal from scratch
drawing, painting, or coloring
using essential oils or a scented candle
self-massage with coconut or almond oil
reading in bed

3. Relieve stress

Some people cut themselves in response to feeling stress. One study found that 45 percent of adolescents who self-harm do so to relieve tension or stress.

To manage the body’s response to stress without cutting, the following activities may help:

practicing yoga at home
doing deep breathing exercises
practicing mindfulness

There are many free yoga videos online, including some for beginners.

Deep breathing exercises can be as simple as taking long, deep breaths in and feeling the belly expand each time before exhaling.

A simple way to practice mindfulness is to go for a slow walk and notice everything you see, smell, hear, and touch.

4. Release anger

Some people cut to relieve unprocessed anger. For people who experience this, releasing anger in a different way may help.

If a person feels angry and gets the urge to cut, alternative ways to release anger include:

dancing to aggressive music
popping balloons or bubble wrap
going for a run
going to the gym for a workout
hitting a cushion
ripping up paper
scribbling on paper

5. Express feelings

Sometimes the urge to cut can arise when a person needs emotional release. They may feel numb or overwhelmed by many different emotions that they have trouble expressing.

Instead of cutting, a person seeking emotional release could try:

writing about how they feel in a journal
speaking to a trusted friend, family member, or therapist
watching a sad film and allowing themselves to cry
listening to music that they can identify with

6. Connect with others

Woman playing with her cat to distract from other issues — Connecting with others and pets can help a person feel less isolated.

Some people who cut do so because they feel isolated, misunderstood, or socially rejected.

Instead of cutting, a person could try:

messaging or calling a friend or family member
playing with a pet or offering to pet-sit for a neighbor
making social plans to look forward to throughout the week
joining local community meet-up groups
finding support groups for people who self-harm

7. Replace the sensation

When trying to avoid cutting, a person may fixate on how it would feel to cut themselves. This can make it hard to resist the urge to cut.

A way around this is to find sensations that are similar to cutting, but less harmful. Some ways to replace the sensation of cutting include:

rubbing an ice cube across the skin
taking a cold shower
drawing on the skin with a red felt-tipped pen
gently snapping a rubber band against the skin
clapping the hands hard
stomping the feet loudly

How to help someone else stop cutting

Research suggests that developing important relationships is a key factor in recovering from self-harm.

To help someone stop cutting, try to provide a safe, nonjudgmental space for them to discuss their feelings.

They may not feel comfortable sharing that they self-harm, so do not push them to disclose this. But do offer them a chance to connect.

Asking open-ended questions can give them the opportunity to discuss their feelings.

Do not worry about having the right answers — just listening to how a person feels and taking their concerns seriously can help.

If someone does share that they self-harm, the Samaritans charity, based in the United Kingdom, suggests some useful questions to ask, such as:

“Have you talked to anyone else about this?”
“Would you like to get some help?”
“Would you like me to come with you?”

If the person is reluctant to get help, a person could say:

“Do you have someone you trust [who] you can go to?”
“If it helps, you can talk to me any time.”

Preventing the next episode

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A person can make a note of the situation that leads to cutting to help identify triggers.

Understanding what triggers the desire to self-harm can help a person avoid those situations or manage them when they occur.

A trigger is a situation, event, or way of thinking that brings on the urge to cut. Cutting triggers may include:

work or study stress
arguments with family members
feeling rejected by a partner

Every person who cuts has a different set of triggers.

To help identify triggers, make a note of the situation that leads to cutting in a journal. Review this regularly and identify recurring triggers.

A person can then work to reduce those triggers and feel more prepared to manage the urge to cut using some of the strategies above.

Once a person has identified their triggers, they can plan how to resist the urge when it happens. Writing this plan down can help.

Keep this plan handy for when the urge to cut arises. Without a written plan, it is easy to feel overwhelmed or forget tactics that may help.

Cutting and other forms of self-harm are linked with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.

If a person who cuts has an underlying mental health condition, receiving treatment will help prevent self-harm in the long term.

Doctors and healthcare professionals can often treat anxiety and depression with a combination of medication and talk therapy.

Certain lifestyle changes and stress-reducing practices may also help, including:

exercising regularly
eating a healthful, balanced diet
getting plenty of sleep
reducing alcohol consumption
not smoking
practicing yoga, mindfulness, and meditation
journaling

When to see a doctor

If a person self-harms or feels compelled to start self-harming, they should speak to a doctor.

A recent study found that between 6.4 percent and 14.8 percent of high school-aged boys in the United States have purposefully hurt themselves. The figure was higher for girls of the same age, with between 17.7 percent and 30.8 percent reporting self-harm.

Despite causing injury, cutting offers some people temporary relief from emotional pain or numbness. Other people who cut say that they do so because they feel the need to punish themselves.

The doctor can help a person find other ways to manage their emotional health. Talk therapy may help with learning how to manage emotions in a safe, sustainable way.

If a person needs immediate help to stop cutting, they can call a self-injury hotline at 1-800-DONT CUT (1-800-366-8388). In the event of an emergency, call emergency services.

Help is out there

If you or someone you know is in crisis and considering suicide or self-harm, please seek support:

Call or text the 988 Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Caring counselors are available to listen and provide free and confidential support 24/7.
Text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 to connect with a volunteer crisis counselor for free and confidential support 24/7.
Not in the United States? Find a helpline in your country with Befrienders Worldwide.
Call 911 or your local emergency services number if you feel safe to do so.

If you’re calling on behalf of someone else, stay with them until help arrives. You may remove weapons or substances that can cause harm if you can do so safely.

If you’re not in the same household, stay on the phone with them until help arrives.

Summary

Cutting is a type of self-harm that some people use to manage negative feelings. The temporary sense of relief it may provide can make it difficult to give up the behavior.

With the right support and coping mechanisms, many people who cut are able to stop.

The methods explored in this article may help a person avoid cutting. Seeking support from a doctor is also important.

Every person who cuts will find a different combination of coping strategies effective. Identifying cutting triggers is essential and can help a person develop a self-management plan and eventually stop cutting.

Depression
Mental Health
Anxiety / Stress

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesMedical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

How to start a difficult conversation. (n.d.).https://www.samaritans.org/difficultconversations
Laye-Gindhu., A., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2005). Nonsuicidal self-harm among community adolescents: Understanding the "whats" and "whys" of self-harm.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226912962_Nonsuicidal_Self-Harm_Among_Community_Adolescents_Understanding_the_Whats_and_Whys_of_Self-Harm
Monto, M. A., et al. (2018). Nonsuicidal self-injury among a representative sample of US adolescents, 2015.https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304470
Moran, P. et al. (2012). The natural history of self-harm from adolescence to young adulthood: A population-based cohort study.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=22100201
Rodham, K., et al. (2004). Reasons for deliberate self-harm: Comparison of self-poisoners and self-cutters in a community sample of adolescents.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14691363
Whitlock, J. et al. (2015). Predictors of self-injury cessation and subsequent psychological growth: Results of a probability sample survey of students in eight universities and colleges.https://capmh.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13034-015-0048-5

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Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — Written by Lana Burgess on February 21, 2019

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