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

Physical pain makes your brain release the same chemicals as emotional pain, and then a rush of feel-good chemicals to combat the physical pain. After the physical pain is over, the good chemicals go away. Cutting is only a temporary solution to an emotional problem. Emotional problems are better addressed with a long-term commitment to self-love, healing, and forgiveness.

In my experience, it is because I need/want to feel something other than numb. So you could be doing it for that reason, and the negative after is knowing you had to harm yourself just to feel something else.

Self-harm is very complex and people's reasons for doing it vary greatly. This is my simple view. Someone's drive to self-harm may be that they want a physical representation of how they are internally feeling or that they want to distract from the emotional pain with physical pain or even as a way to escape that overwhelming feeling of nothing that can come with depression or other mental health conditions. Cutting makes you feel better in those first instances because you've found a quick fix to whatever was overwhelming you. Its a distraction, something to focus on, a different kind of pain to what you may already be experiencing. It can be satisfying; something, ANYTHING, that you can control when it feels like the rest of your life is spiralling. But ultimately, cutting makes you feel bad in the long run because we as humans a self preservation instinct; it goes against our nature to hurt ourselves. Once you are out of the overwhelming spiral that leads you to cut, you start to analyse and assess. Deep deep down we know that there are better and different ways to deal with overwhelming emotions or even lack of emotions so we start to berate ourselves for not "coping" in a way that society sees as "appropriate". People who self harm may also sub consciously feel like people around them are judging them if the scars or marks are visible. These negative feelings inevitably contribute to that spiral of wanting to cut again and you end up in the same loop. If you are feeling that self harm is the only option, please have a read of the self-harm pages on the 7 cups site.

In my experience cutting was a way to distract myself from the emotional pain with physical pain, I often felt bad afterward because I felt I could have found other ways to deal with my problems rather than cutting.

Cutting, or self-harm, can bring about a feeling of release from stress. Cutting can make one feel as though they have some control over their feelings. Self-harm behaviors can become addictive because the feeling of relief afterwards can become rewarding, thus, increasing the likelihood that that behavior will continue. Self-harm is not an appropriate or healthy way to deal with overwhelming feelings.

Cutting or any kind of self-harm can release adrenaline and other hormones in your system which may temporarily make you feel better about any internal emotions you are feeling and making it a physical pain and sensation. It is a harmful coping method, and you could be feeling bad afterwards for a few reasons. After a while you could be feeling bad because the initial adrenaline has gone, and you are left with the same emotions but now with more physical pain and it becomes a cycle. You could also be feeling guilt or shame because of cutting and feel like people may judge you for self-harming. It is important to realise that there are so many people to support you here, and using healthier coping methods such as mindfulness and finding ways of distracting yourself when you feel the urge to cut, can be so important to help you feel better in the long run without the feeling bad afterwards.

because its a method of coping with suicidal thoughts. it hurts afterwards, which is why you should try something else other than self harm

Cutting makes you feel better in the moment because it is taking away that emotional and mental pain and replacing it with physical pain but after it hurts because now you are dealing with physical, emotional, and mental so it all adds up on you.

When you don't know how to handle your emotions, cutting may give you a sense of relief, in an attempt to cope with your feelings. After the act however, you realise that you didn't really want to hurt yourself, and may feel like you've let yourself down. By cutting, you haven't addressed the root of your problems, so you soon go back to feeling the same way, and the cycle repeats. If you are thinking of suicide or have thoughts of hurting yourself call the suicide prevention lifeline (USA) 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-SUICIDE 1-800-799-4TTY (TTY/TTD) Try reaching out to an adult you trust or a professional counsellor, and talk to them about how you are feeling. Here are some referral resources for you: Safe Haven Self-injury support forum and community for self-injurers and their friends/family. gabrielle.self-injury.net

When you cut yourself, you are (usually) trying to relieve some other form of emotional pain and/or a bad memory that plagues your mind. And yes, the acute physical sensation of pain caused by the cutting does, VERY briefly, distract you from that emotional pain. Ironically, it is only a bandaid approach and will never allow the deeper emotional wounds to heal if you never address those. To make things worse, your deepest conscience registers what you have done and then you have added guilt or shame afterward because that part of you, the inner friend that is YOU, knows that hurting yourself is not healthy or fair to you. Cutting also often adds anxiety because you then have to hide the cut marks and this behavior from others around you. Therapy works long-term. Cutting does not. Once you find a better coping strategy, you can free yourself from this cyclical self-harm. We are here for you!