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Question: Why do people think cutting is attention seeking behavior?

(Posted by: justcurious. on 2010-07-06 21:11:50)

Because i've been cutting myself for three years. I've tried to hide it and I don't tell my family or friends Only my best friends..and If they find out i usually try to make excuses. I always wear alot of bracelets or long sleeves. the only reason people know is because scars. But i always seem so happy. I'm not looking for sympathy. i just have problems..like I "m diagnosed bipolar and my mother won't let me use the medicine prescribed for me. and i don't know how to handel this..so i cut myself. I've tried to kill myself. but i keep it secret. why do people think all cutters look for attention?

Posted by: Jolley on 2010-07-06, 21:14:11

Some cutters do it for attention. others have real issues. it's part of a scene at the moment. you will get crap from people who are or aren't close to you because of it. i wish you the best of luck.

Posted by: Jessica on 2010-07-06, 21:16:38

It's so frustrating. People that claim cutting is for attention are extremely ignorant and should be ignored. Self injury isn't about attention seeking...people who do it are struggling with intense emotions that cannot otherwise be regulated. It helps calm down feelings and cope with life. I've been accused of seeking attention through SI as well, but it's not true. In fact, most people who cut go to great lengths to hide their scars (like you, I wear a ton of bracelets and elastics on my wrists). While SI doesn't solve anything, people who do it have valid reasons for engaging in it and should therefore not be criticized by immature morons. Don't listen to em.

Posted by: Tananda Trollop on 2010-07-06, 21:17:15

Because MOST cutters, like MOST suicidal people, hope in the back of their mind that someone will notice what they are doing, and say "Oh no! I didn't realize how much youare hurting! " and then fix the problem and/ or commiserate. It *IS* possible, I suppose, that you are a rare exception.

Posted by: louise on 2010-07-06, 21:26:10

I'm sorry you can't use your medicine. that must suck. if you have tried to kill yourself you need to seek help! please! i hope you do. but I understand that not everyone does it for attention. I used to do it and the first and only time I ever talked about it was with my boyfriend 3 years later. It's just not something i want to share. but it sucked going through all of the secrecy, i wish now that i would have gotten help. please see a counselor or something. or at least find one friend to talk to about it. it just is very painful to keep secrets like that.

Posted by: Meg on 2010-07-06, 21:29:13

The fact that you posted this question, then started the post with "ive been cutting myself for three years " pretty much screams attention seeking behaviour. Things that are easier to hide like substance abuse problems, compulsive behaviors, and other less dramatic tendencies are easier to feel sympathy towards. You ARE looking for sympathy/ attention, you are not just asking for peoples opinions on cutting/ attention. Otherwise, you would have posted something relevant in the description, (instead of a sob story) and refrained from throwing yourself a pity party via yahoo answers. Im not implying that you are not unhappy, or that its easy being you. However, the solution is not in the posted replies to your question on yahoo. The solution is in a folder at your local behavioral facility.

Posted by: je9je9 on 2010-07-06, 22:35:39

People don't understand cutting. It's like suicide. A lot of people think if someone talks about it, they won't do it, they're just trying to get attention. Then they're shocked when it happens. There's so much misunderstanding. And there's not a lot of talk out there about cutting. People who don't do it can't imagine doing it. People who don't do it can't come up with any other reason. I used to cut and also burned and heard over and over how it was for attention. Well, I'll tell you, the attention you get is so negative, there must be something wrong to be seeking something so negative. It's not like any attention I ever got was sympathetic. So I just think people can't quite wrap their minds around it.

Posted by: Thats What She Said on 2010-07-06, 23:10:17

People are ignorant, and this world is a real horrible place.

Posted by: Andrea on 2010-07-07, 09:36:14

Some cutters DO do it for attention...... but that doesn't mean that they all do..... People self diagnose themselves Bipolar all the time (not saying you did) when all they have are little emotions or they change their mind "Oh I am so Bipolar today ". So do you believe they are Bipolar? or does it irritate you because they create this myth that Bipolar is this minor little thing and being Bipolar is no big deal? irritates the hell out of me. Some people really self harm! But way too many girls scratch themselves with a toothpick just barely enough to leave a red mark and then they run around saying "I'm a cutter! ". Do you think that is a cutter? or someone who for some strange reason thinks that cutting makes them special and is doing it for attention...... same thing with all the kids that say "Oh I am so Bipolar today ". it's the ones who DO do it for attention that create this bad image... and the ones who really do self harm (or really do have Bipolar etc.....) that get hurt by that.