cutter

a cutter is a slang term for someone who for whatever reason self-harms. this is in NO WAY to be confused with the recent teeny-bopper craze of being emo where children dress in black and bright colours and claim to be "misunderstood" and cut because MCR have sung about it. i am being generic ofcourse, im sure some emo children have problems. the reson behind this cutting, can stem from anything from stress, to full blown clinical depression, and often is caused by some traumatic event in the person life. whatever the cause or the reason it is equally serious. cutting is a form of relife, whether to take your anger out on yourself or because you feel worthless and are unhappy with your life, or even just because you are so frustrated you don't know what else you can do. it is a coping strategy, it is therefore almost the opposite to suicide where a person is giving up on life, cutting is perseverence. cutters are often branded attention seekers. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. i can say from my own personal experience, when you bear the scars of cutting, the last thing you want is anyone to pay attention to them. i spent some of the hottest days of summer in long sleeves until i almost passed out, was forced to remove my jumper and had school friends commenting on my cuts, from then on i preceeded to cut on my stomache. the best thing you can do to help someone you think might be cutting is to avoid talking about their cuts but constantly reassure them that you care about them and offer them a shoulder to cry on. but don't feel you have to share their burden.