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

Any type of self harm isn't something that fixes your problems forever. It's just a temporary relief. It makes you feel bad because after awhile you realize it didn't do anything to benefit you and you still feel exactly the same as before you did it. Often it makes you feel worse cause you look down at what you did and realize how bad it is. When I personally feel the need to self harm I do something that I can look back on and think "Wow, I am so proud of myself." Sometimes I start new drawings or try learning new things on guitar or the key board so in the future I'll always have that drawing or skill and when I look back I can think about how it got me through tough times and how I should appreciate myself for doing something like that when I'm falling apart. Find that thing for you whether it be art, music, crafts, a sport, just anything you really wanna get better at.

Because for the moment of doing physical harm to our body, physical pain distracts and pauses the mental pain that is hiding at deeper level. It gives back the control to ourselves for making the decision to do it and how we do it. But after the cutting, physical pain doesn't heal or stop the mental pain but only adding the pain. So you end up feeling both physically and mentally hurt at the same time. When we hurt ourselves and see that it couldn't help reducing the problem we have earlier, we feel even worse by not having enough love to give to ourselves.

Cutting can make you feel better in the moment because it's a way to release a lot of feelings, or might be a distraction from what you feel. However you know it's not something you should do, so you might feel guilty after its first effect stops, which added to all the emotios you already had makes it worse. Another reasons cutting might make you feel better it's because you use it as a punishment so it makes you feel better because you "got what you deserve" but again, there's usually a sense of guilt afterwards. The last reason I could think of is to make you feel something when you're numb. SO in this last case you fist might feel better because you're feeling, but then all the bad emotons come back making it worse. I hope I managed to answer your question well, this is all I could think of.

At the moment you are probably looking for something that will make you feel something or something to make you feel better. But after you do it, you may realize what you have done and feel guilty, sad, angry, etc. about the action. When you cut yo get the release you are looking for but after you get the realization and guilt that comes with the action. What you are feeling is a commonality within people who do self-harm. Please stay strong and reach out for help when you need it. The 7 cups community is here for you always.

I assume it's because you feel ashamed. How could something so bad make you feel better? It's something you know is bad, but it's the only thing that can make you feel better. When I was in my dark time, I felt so ashamed. I felt so good when i cut, but so bad after. I would hide in the bathroom and cry, cut, then cry because i did this to myself. I felt guilty. I felt like a burden to myself. I did it as a way to punish myself, and the punishment was not physical. It was mental. Overall, it's shame and guilt that make you feel bad afterwords.

I would first recommend reaching out for professional help, because that is one thing I am not. But, because I have dealt with self harm myself, and I have actually learn about why it makes you feel a certain way, I can tell you two things. One, self harm is a way that people feel it is something they can control, which helps them in a way, and the second thing (scientific) is that when you get an injury, your body naturally releases hormones to "distract you" from the pain. By your body doing this, you feel relief for a short while, and once the hormones wear off, most of the time you end up feeling guilty, because when you were in that moment, you were distracted from what you were doing. I wish you good luck with recovery! I am always here!

Cutting is a negative coping mechanism that many people choose to use. In the moment, cutting feels like it makes everything better. But in the long term, it makes everything worse. While you’re cutting, you feel like you have control over something, which in turn can make you feel a lot better. But over time, as you accumulate scars, it makes you feel worse. This is because you feel ashamed that the only coping mechanism you know is to cut yourself. Another reason it makes you feel bad is because hiding the cuts is very difficult. I hope you get the help you deserve, and I hope this was helpful!

Cutting is an addictive method of making ourselves feel better, as both emotional and physical pain is processed in the same part of our brain, emotional pain can be countered and distracted by inflicting physical pain. Physical pain also causes the release of endocannabinoids that act as pain relief and also give us the short term feeling of euphoria. We feel bad afterwards as we now have these wounds that hurt and we have come down from our emotional peak, sort of like how we feel about the things we've said to others when we've been angry at them. From personal experience, the embarrassment and the stress of hiding these new cuts from everyone also made me feel so lost and helpless, making me feel even worse about myself and continuing the cycle of self-harm and self-hate.

Forms of self-harm are often used as an immediate release when we find ourselves extremely overwhelmed or even numb. In that moment, the the singular physical sensation of pain gives the brain one thing to focus on and feel. So in that moment, you may feel temporary relief, but in retrospect, all those underlying feelings/stressors are still there and still causing harm to you. In addition, grappling with the idea that you've harmed yourself can be heavy and a hard concept to accept. It is best to reach out to someone that can help. Especially ones that can help you address why it is you are hurting and what healthy coping strategies can be implemented for long-term care.

When you cut your body releases dopamine. Dopamine is the good feeling you get when you self harm. Some people often get hooked on this feeling and they get addicted to cutting. It feels good in the moment but later when you finsihed self harming and your body has finished releasing all of that dopamine, you start to feel the regret and the shame and the "Why did I just do that" thoughts which make you feel even worse then before you've cut. You get stuck in a cycle and become addicted and it's really hard to get out of that cycle.