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

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.

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 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.

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

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 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.