Does cutting for only a few months and stopping make me any less of a self-harmer?

Self harm is simply harming oneself physically.. It comes in so many forms (cutting, burning, chopping, punching, pinching etc.) and is often different to the person harming themself. This makes the experience unique, therefore it's wrong to try and catergorise someone on the amount of harm they commit or the length of time they do it for I think regardless of if you harm yourself short term or long term you are still a harmer. With this cutting your body is physical self harm, a person is just as valid harming themself for a few months as someone harming themself for 3 years is. You aren't any less I believe.

To me, self-harm is self-harm. Evaluating it as "less" or "more" seems irrelevant to me. I cut myself for a few months and eventually stopped but it was an act of hatred toward myself. It's not something I would do to anyone else or recommend anyone else do. I have permanent scars that will be with me for the rest of my life. They are a part of my past that I'm not in denial about. They are simultaneously a reminder of the lowest point of my life while also being a positive reminder of how far I've come since then. I now regularly attend support groups, do one-on-one therapy, and maintain lists of gratitudes and coping skills that keep me feeling my best. There is hope as long as you're willing to seek help from those that can provide it.

It does not make you any less of a self harmer. The fact that you did it in the first place has already "earned you a spot" in the self harm society. Weather you did it once or you did it 150 times, you did it and it's okay. I'm just glad you are alive and you are here reading this. I hope everything gets better soon and know that you are not alone. This world can be hard and a scary place, but let's not give up hope just yet! You are loved and you are not done in this world.

All cutting is self-harming. But the problem with this way of thinking is that a label such as "self-harmer" holds meaning or value. Cutting for a few months does not define you the same as not cutting ever does not define another person. Self harm is a serious thing no matter the length of time it was utilized. Someone who drowns in 2 feet of water is just as dead as someone who drowns in 20. Qualifying for a membership in the a community with self-destructive habits is never a goal. The intensity, the length of time, the location of harm all has no effect on who you are as a person. Never use that label to define yourself.

As someone with an experience with self-harm, I want to write my opinion here. I used to cut a few years back. It was on and off for a year. I tried to stop many times.. on my birthday, the new year and all that. It did not make me feel like I was recovering. It just felt like I was in a tank that was filling up with water every time that I stopped. When the tank gets full, I would relapse and cut again. I had to get some serious help before I stopped feeling like a self-harmer. Even after the last time I cut, I could not help but be scared of the tank filling up. I just had to work on myself and get myself out of the tank to stop feeling like that. I hope this helps.

No , any form of self harm means you are obviously in a lot of pain . Your validity isn’t any less of those who have been self harming for longer periods of time , however you should be extremely proud of yourself for stopping self harm and realising the damage you are doing to yourself . It takes a lot of courage to stop and a great deal of bravery to even speak up about the matter . I am so proud of how far you have come and remember that how your feeling is normal and valid .

Labels can be difficult and troublesome. I would resist the need to label yourself. I would focus on the fact that you have stopped! That's a great thing, if you need a label I would focus on the term Survivor. Attaching ourselves to labels can be a good thing if it's something that helps us cope, or is needed to explain something in an effective manner. But identifying with them for too long or too often can make us more prone to accept them as our singular reality. Positive labels on the other hand can have the same effect. So acknowledging that you did self-harm, and survived and have stopped at this moment is making a conscious choice to define yourself and the future positively. Your thoughts are essentially programming your brain.

When it comes to matters of emotional well-being, comparing ourselves to others is one of the most harmful things we can do. Not only is it harmful to our healing process, self-esteem, and self-concept, but engaging in comparisons is conducive to poor boundary setting. That is, it encourages us to see ourselves only as we relate to others, and we fail to be able to recognize what is truly our issue from what is someone else's issue. Furthermore, engaging in comparisons is futile because everyone experiences situations and emotions differently, so there is no standard by which we can accurately compare ourselves with others in terms of mental health (without enlisting the help of a mental health professional, like a therapist, psychiatrist, or other diagnostician). That being said, self-harm in any capacity is self-harm.

I would encourage you to not feel as if your past struggles define who you are now! You are a human being: you are a miraculous creation! You have talents, gifts, and personality traits that make you unique and one-of-a-kind. I applaud you for your endurance: it isn't easy! But don't consider yourself a "self-harmer"...you are a human being who has so many strengths and are not defined by past decisions. You may have been a person who struggled with self-harm, but this does not make you a self-harmer. I know how hard it is to begin believing that you are defined by past addictions or decisions, but know that you are so much more!

The term 'self-harmer' is very wide. There is no strict category or criteria for this label. However, as cutting is considered self-harm, if you cut, you could say you're a self-harmer. Nevertheless, if the behavior has stopped, you are not a self-harmer. Extinct, or dormant, behaviors do not validate a term unless, ofcourse, they are triggered again. Try not to label yourself. Labels tend to do unnecessary damage and it becomes difficult to shrug them off afterward. There is so much more to you than self-harm and I hope this answer helps you understand this better. Goodluck. I hope this helps :)