why does cutting make me feel better but then bad afterwards?

It makes you feel better in the moment. Self harm is a short term solution, not a long term solution. You feel guilty afterwards, because you know there are a million other things you could've done rather than hurt yourself.

Cutting distracts the brain from emotional trauma, but a sense of guilt will most likely come afterwards. Rather than cutting, try playing with legos or clay. Your brain will focus more on the work your hands are doing, rather than the emotions.

Cutting only relieves the pain, temporarily. Keep in mind that you are indeed cutting your flesh with a sharp object, hence doing something your body doesn't want. Human bodies aren't supposed to want pain, more-so reject it.

Because at the moment, you’re letting all the built up frustration out, afterwards you realize what you’ve done.

You feel bad after getting a euphoric feeling after cutting, because when you cut yourself, certain hormones get released into the blood that make you feel better. These hormones are a natural painkiller made by your own body. Scientists also refer to it as the strongest drug on this planet. It makes you feel happier. However, when your body is done making those hormones, you don't get that "happy" feeling anymore + you feel bad because you cut yourself. That's double. It doesn't matter how much you think cutting is a good solution, you will actually feel worse after cutting than you did when you wanted to cut.

Cutting is a way of translating emotional pain into physical pain. Individuals who cut often say, “I just wanted to feel something. I’ve felt numb for so long!” or “I’m hurting so bad emotionally. I just wanted to feel the same kind of pain physically”. Physical and emotional pain are really quite similar. Both types of pain are processed by the same areas of the brain: the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. In a 2010 study published in Psychological Science it was even found that taking Tylenol reduced emotional pain. The reason for feelings bad after cutting is because the emotional pain is still there! Cutting is only temporary relief. It is important to address the cause of the emotional pain and seek help to address it.

Well, in the moment of self-harming, we feel frantic. We are overwhelmed with emotion, sometimes to the point of total numbness. Self-harm alleviates that pressure. It silences the mind. It makes you feel only one thing. In a sense, it can be soothing. But afterward, the feelings come back, AND you’ve done something to yourself that you can recognize wasn’t done out of love. It becomes a mark of that moment that you wanted so badly to escape, but now can no longer forget. If you feel like self-harming, there are ways to cope until you get to a clearer head. And some will work, some won’t... but never give up on figuring out what works for you, knowing each moment- you might need to try something new, if old techniques effectiveness fade. And you’re ALWAYS welcome to talk to me about this. Always. And there are other Listeners too who would be able to support you through these times also. Best of luck, all my love - Jaali.

That's a question you should ask yourself more often. Cutting can sometimes be a distraction or an addiction, which makes you feel better but after seeing what you've done, it makes you feel bad about it.

Cutting is a temporary release of frustration, fear and depression related to something so horrible in your life that you have to replace with something which causes severe pain. Unfortunately, the relief you feel is only temporary until such time as the pain in life once again becomes unbearable.

Cutting may be something you turn to when you have a lot of built up emotions and are feeling frustrated and upset. It is something that allows you to channel that anger and frustration and let it out, and you feel better. However it is a very damaging habit and the aftermath is obviously painful and you may feel some guilt.

When in that state, life is tough. It becomes difficult to find solace or enjoyment in many things you once did. Cutting is what many will turn to. For me at least, it felt like I deserved it. In addition the pain became something I was addicted to, like how a kid will wiggle and wiggle their baby teeth until they finally get it out. It hurts, but there is a strange satisfaction from it. Cutting "put me in my place" and made me feel not worth it. It sucks afterwards because you end up regretting it and disliking yourself more. It is a vicious cycle, but it is so worth it to break through it.

Cutting is basically turning your emotional pain into physical pain. It is a coping mechanism. This is why you feel relieve because you put your pain somewhere. Afterwards you feel bad because of the shame and guilt that you experience. You have gave in to your addiction so you feel weak. Also you now have to hide the skin that you cut in otherwise your friends or family would find out. Your constantly scared that people find out and it becomes this huge burden on your shoulders. But because its so addictive its really hard to stop and you feel like you fail yourself everytime you give in.

Cutting happens on an impulse. Most impulsive things feel good at the moment, but you regret them later. You should take some time to think before acting on an impulse. Try to replace cutting with something else like reading, taking a bath/shower, taking a walk, drawing, exercising, etc.

Cutting feels good at first because it helps to engulf your real pain and suffering for a time being. But after sometime you'll get addicted to it and you would want more. I felt bad afterwards because I was in pain and hurting myself as well as bringing myself down while whoever or whatsoever made me into this is growing. I felt scared and weak when I saw my healed scars. It is unhealthy, I realized; so I put on my shoes, and walked to gym. Started working out, and I never stopped. It helps, physical activity really helps you through a depression

When I used to cut, it made me feel better because I believed that I deserved the pain then guilty that I would get caught by someone seeing the marks, which has happened, and that they would judge me.

Cutting makes you feel better in the moment because it is a temporary relief since the pain releases endorphins (which are happy chemicals) into your body. But, you end up feeling bad afterwards because you just hurt yourself and you may feel guilty about it or upset. Plus, it's only temporary relief, meaning that feeling of peace will go away. Thus, it is best to find better coping skills than cutting (and I know this is not easy; I am a self-harmer myself). Every single time I cut, it feels a lot better for those few minutes, but I regret it after and go back to my worse-off self. This is why I strongly urge you to search up other coping mechanisms or reach out for help (even if that's anonymously online) or look at the 7Cups guide for self-harm.

Most of the time when people harm themselves is because they are going through a rough time and feel empty and useless. When they cut they feel the need to feel something instead of being empty and the pain just brings back feeling yet you realize what you have done later and realize it wasn't a good thing to do.

Cutting is often used as an outlet for emotion, an impulse that occurs in a moment of panic and upset. Often, a person acts without thinking so they feel they don't have a choice. Only once this act has been completed does the self-harmer look back and wonder why they did this. My advice would be to pick up a pen instead of a razor and doodle instead of cut. Something like that to take your mind off of things. Good luck

From personal experience, I can tell you that self harming also made me feel better. Sometimes cutting can make you feel that you still exist, or sometimes it helps to get your frustrations out. The feeling afterward could be regret and guilt, knowing you'll see your scares every day and remembering why you did it, which can sometimes lead to more self harm since your reliving your bad memories.

When you cut yourself, or engage in other kinds of self-injury, it is probably a way for you to manage negative emotions. It provides a source of immediate physical pain that focuses your attention and takes your mind off of emotional pain. This can make you feel better - but only for a little while. When the effects of this immediate relief fade, you probably become more aware that self-injury is harmful for you, it does not provide an effective and long-term solution for your negative emotions, and that it would be better and safer to use alternative coping methods. It is probably this realization that makes you feel bad afterwards.

I had been in this position once. In my case, when i felt bad, i had some kind of tunnel vision that cutting was the only thing to relieve me from my negative feeling. It did, like i finally got the punishment i deserve for being that way. But hours after that when i had some time to breath, i realized that it didn't solve what made me feel bad in the first place. Instead it left me with stinging pain, and a pure look of sadness from people close to me, which made me feel bad even more because others had to suffer a collateral damage

rush of endorphins while you cut, then afterwards you get a drop. It's a bit like when you get a caffeine high then plummet down afterwards.

Cutting yourself releases endorphins which can give you a pleasurable feeling. your body releases endorphins to help relieve the pain. the reason why you feel bad afterwards is because the pleasurable feeling fades and you might feel guilty afterwards for cutting yourself. cutting can be a release but its not a healthy way to get relief. i hope you can find a way to get relief in a healthy way.

it helps significantly to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms; self-harm isn’t only unhealthy because of the physical damage it causes, but the mental habit that makes you think in the moment, “it’s okay if it feels bad later if it feels alright right *now*” - a temporary release for a more long-lasting issue is all it ever has been (in the same way people build habits based on things that make them feel something, all at once to get that feeling of instantaneous gratification) making researching and seeking more healthy coping techniques extremely important you’ll be able to find help and tips relating to self-harm here: https://www.7cups.com/self-harm/ and feel free to talk to listeners with the appropriate tag and reach out wishing you the best 💛

cutting is an temporary solution... when we cut a sense of relief is felt... and it kinda helps us to sooth out mind and out demons but then when the cuts heal when there are scars everywhere you start hating your body.... this is what's happening with me rn tbh... it'll be hard at first to leave cutting but when you've done so you'll feel better then ever before :')

Cutting makes you feel better but then bad afterwards because the pain and that you're causing yourself makes you feel better at the time that you're doing it, but as soon as you see what you've done it hurts you even more and not in the way you want it to. I understand the feeling, and I've been there. Cutting doesn't do anything good for you. It may help with the pain at the time, but in the end it's only gonna make you feel worse and gonna make things a lot worse than they already are. I hope this helped!

Because, from personal experience, you feel physical pain and that makes you feel like nothing is wrong with you and you welcome the pain as a way of distraction from emotional pain that seems to never leave. For me, I felt bad afterwards, because I felt weak, like I couldn't take some sadness, hurt, and loneliness. As well as feeling like I had let the people I love most down because of it. Even if those feelings of hurt, sadness, frustration, and loss ran deeper than I wanted to admit. Soon realized that cutting wasn't how I should have dealt with those emotions, and that I needed to share with someone. Also if you need someone to talk to I'm always here for you.

some people do self harming because they find it somehow helpful but on the other hand it does not. because self harming is that you're torturing yourself. don't ever think that cutting yourself is a good idea, because there's other people who value you and hate to see you hurting. seek for their company and share your troubles to your family or friends.

When you cut, hormones in your brain are released to help deal with the brain (like a self-made painkiller) so you feel better when you do it and it becomes very addictive. You might feel bad about it afterwards because you've realised what you've done and you can't take it back

Self harm is short term relief. It's commonly used to alleviate emotional pain. It gives someone control over their pain. However, in hindsight, it really only makes things worse. Although anything may seem better than what you're feeling in the moment, self harm is a temporary and destructive answer. It's a step back from recovery, which is easier to take at first but only becomes harder. Self harm is hard to quit, especially because of the moment of feeling better, but it's not worth the pain and feeling bad afterwards.