"Cutting"

I don't have the answers to this type of behavior. I don't understand it either except that they do it to "release" feelings or emotions. Our church has a "Teen Club" and one of the girls there was doing this. Our youth pastors spoke with her, spent time with her, and it seemed to help that she could talk with them and get things out in the air. I pray that your son would overcome this, and I'll be remembering you and your family in my prayers. God bless.

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My niece had the same problem and went through lots of counseling before things really got bad. She finally saw a psychiatric team that was able to help her more.

If you're just seeing a regular counselor that doesn't have psychiatric training and an understanding of the biochemical aspects of mental illness, you may need to switch to a psychiatrist.

Don't be afraid to ask your counselor for a referral to a psychiatrist because if it is a mental illness, there are some medical interventions that he may need, in addition to therapy.

My husband also did that when he was 19. He talked to me about it once and said that he was hurting so bad on the inside that when he cut himself it took him away from his inner pain and redirected it to physical pain, which he said hurt much less than the inner pain he was dealing with. I would recommend a psychiarist. He needs someone (other than family) to help him deal with the inner pain he is feeling.
I hope everything works out!

O.K. I'll bite. What is "cutting"? Using a scissors???

Read everything you can get your hands on regarding Sensory integration problems (also associated with autism spectrum behaviors). My understanding is that mild sensory problems starting young tend to lead to this very difficult situation later. What you may find is that your son is about 10 years ahead of the really direct literature and articles that are coming out by the dozens now. You may have to step out and try some things in this area because my sense is you may not be able to find the one article or book to tell you try diet/immune rebuilding activities that influence the nervous system...thus connecting it to the cutting behavior. I have found complementary and alternative medicine very helpful with families dealing with sensory problems (almost completely recovered my incredibly sensory seeking child only 8 now). Email me if you would like more info on that: ____@____.com. I will be praying for you and your son. J.

I am sorry that you are walking through this. I know he must really be struggling with liking himself.
When I was younger, I am now 40, I tried to cut myself, it hurt too bad but I would hit my head into things especially when I "failed" or messed up. I never felt I could do anything right. Some of that was b/c of constant message received by my mom, but also it was inside me, my dad left when I was a baby and I thought he didn't love me there were many things that caused neg. feelings about myself.
I have since grown close to Jesus and He has brought a lot of healing to me, yet when I "mess up" I still feel the struggle to hit myself and I fight that b/c I know it is not good. But I do feel for your son. My nephew and niece and my younger sister all have struggled with cutting and it BREAKS my heart. All of their situations were feeling like life is overwhelming.
I would pray really hard for him. If there is a place where you live that can offer some healing of past hurts or something like that I think that would be good for him. For me personally a relationship with the Lord has helped. My younger sister went through anger management classes and that helped her.
I don't know your son's name but the Lord does and I will be praying for him and you as his mom I know it has to hurt to see one you love do this to himself.
I am now a mother of 4 and married 13 years to a very kind man I this has helped me to overcome my bad feelings too.
I pray for hope for you both!!!

Well M., I am not an expert but I am a special education teacher and have seen more and more of this type of behavior in teenagers. From my experience, cutting is a sign of depresssion. Cutting relieves the stress and anxiety of the child. If you are not seeing improvement with the counselor, maybe he is not matched up with the right one for him. Maybe you can find a new counselor for him and look for group therapy centers, such as Tanner Medical Center the deals with teen behaviors and group counseling. Hope this helps!

This might seem strange, but I have heard that cutting can be an addiction, just like drugs, to cope with problems. I know a great ministry set up to help the whole family of the addicted. You could contact them and at least talk with them and see what they have to say. It is free.
www.wisdominlivinglife.org
I hope that is helpful.

I don't know if I can offer any real wisdom here... but please know that you are not alone. My stepdaughter was doing this a few years back. Her teacher had said something to my husband. Of course at the time she denied it. She later admitted it was true. She was also exhibiting what I thought were signs of suicidal tendencies so I had to tell my husband what I thought and that we shouldn't leave her alone. She would want to stay in her room and not come out. At her age it had a lot to do with the people she was associating with at school. We took her out of public school and started home school the following year. She has grown so much since then in regard to maturity and wisdom and we have also had many discussions about how to choose friends and knowing that the people you hang around have great influence over you. Cutting is a form of expression (unhealthy of course) and is a big sign that someone needs help and is also seeking attention. Everyone wants to be loved and accepted no matter who they are. Have you talked with the counselor?

Well there's has to be a point in time that he started cutting and something that stressed him out enough to make him resort to that.Try back tracking and find out what happened to him that might have made him do this if he hasen't already spoken to his counsler about it.The best you can do those is to try and give him any and all support and let him know that you are there for him.Don't be afriad to ask questions.