Saturday, November 23, 2013

Cutting....yesterday, today and tomorrow

My heart hurts. Sometimes the more you know, the more you don't want to know. I have heard more and more lately about "cutting". I don't know a lot about it. I have more to find out. However, what I do know makes me sad....and mad....and.....I'm at a loss for words to describe it.

The little that I do understand of the "why" is because when someone cuts, the emotional pain is replaced by physical pain....and for awhile....the emotional pain goes away....or is felt less.

Maybe this was going on when I was in school, but if it did, I don't remember anyone really talking about it. Maybe we just had different ways of dealing with it. I know we had our share of emotional pain too. It doesn't matter if it was more or less or different. Sometimes I wonder if all the technology and news has made cutting more in our minds, which then leads to more cutting and round and round we go.....

It seems that cutting is a distraction. Maybe finding other distractions or different ways to cope is the answer or at least part of it. Is there an answer?

I guess the main point of this is if you are a parent, please be aware of the issue and talk to your kids. If there are long sleeves always, please find a way to look. Know that arms are not the only place where cutting happens. Maybe start by asking if they know anyone else that cuts or if it has been brought up at school. You might worry that asking will put the idea in their head. More than likely cutting....or something similar is already there....you're just letting them know it's OK to talk about.

If you have cut or are actively cutting, PLEASE find someone to talk to. It doesn't even have to be a "professional". Find somebody you can trust. Be open. You might help them deal with some of their own stuff too.

We can all benefit from being more transparent. We all have stuff we deal with. We all have different ways of dealing with it. Sometimes we hurt others. Sometimes we hurt ourselves. Sometimes we deal with it by NOT dealing with it. Hurting....hurts!

Cutting leaves external scars. Constant reminders of the pain we've dealt with. IF we can find another way to deal with pain, maybe we can move through it and past it and leave it in yesterday. Choose today to deal with it. Know that your tomorrows can be better.