Why does my girlfriend cut herself?

Self-harming is a mental illness as well, though it is also common to be associated with depression, anxiety or any other mental illness. Is your girlfriend depressed or anxious or does she have any other mental illness? This could be the reason. Another question is, does she cut herself to kill herself? Many people self harm because they feel like they need a punishment or they want to clear their mind or let something out. There could be a lot of reasons.

Cutting yourself isn't always a conscious decision. Sometimes, you feel really hurt and angry at yourself, and you take all your anger out and the pain sort of relieved it. It can be hard to understand when a loved one wants to hurt themself. If she is causing herself extreme harm, contact a professional.

It could be because of what she's going through, she may be having a bad day and that could the topping to everything else she's been going through. She could be scared of the relationship ending in a very bad way or she is worried about being alone.

It's different from person to person. Some start because of anxiety, stress, depression, self-hatred, a new development in life which they feel that they can't handle, etc. Again I say that it's different for all people, so it could be different for her. Even after the extenuating circumstances have finished/become better, people still find it hard or even impossible to give it up. Cutting is like alcohol or drugs in the sense that it is addictive and hard to stop when once started as well as being very bad. Cutting could offer a sense of release for some, like it fixes something wrong in their lives. However, even if a person successfully stops then there is always a danger present of them doing it again at times of difficulty. What your girlfriend needs is support. It's the best thing you can do, to support her. She should see someone about it if she isn't already and get treatment somehow. I don't know if this properly adressed the question you asked but I hope that it helps somehow.

She hurts herself because she feels as if there is something she can't control so she controls her pain instead, she is having trouble saying how she truly feels so she hurts herself to find relief or she feels the need to punish herself. Hope this helped these are only a few reasons to this situation.

It may be because she's insecure, or she has something going on in her life. Maybe an old situation has come back to her and it seems like the only solution. Maybe she feels nobody is there for her. Whatever it is, please just try and be there for her. Don't force her to open up, don't get irritated if she can be quite stubborn or distracted, but be there to support her if she asks for it.

People self-harm because they feel numb, and sometimes that is the only thing they are able to feel. It can also happen when we are not equipped with enough healthy coping mechanisms to combat certain emotions we feel. It is not 'attention seeking' as many people believe, and they deserve a lot of love and support to overcome this.

To cope with all the pain she is in or she's cutting herself because she wants to feel the pain; she feels as if she deserves the pain.

The reasons for someone self-harming differs from one person to another. Someone might do it in order to punish themselves because they constantly feel guilty. Other may self-harm because they hate themselves and find it hard to accept and embrace who they are, or simply because they are holding so much pain and do not know any other way to fix it except by inflicting physical pain on themselves. Try to support your girlfriend and give her all the help she needs. She just needs your love right now.

Cutting and if self harm is really hard to understand if you've never experienced it personally (be grateful!). Everyone self harms for different reasons but in generally it's a way of coping with extreme emotional pain. Some people use it as a physical expression of inner pain, some do it for control, or punishment, or to get the release "high" from endorphins that happens when one self harms or all of these. I would just ask her directly not out of judgment but out of love trying to understand. I would love for some one to care enough to really want to know what's going on. Don't critique her reasons though validate and love her without supporting her behavior. Message me if you'd like to talk. :)