Can someone tell me....

[missjayne]

Is cutting a sign of depression?.

 

I have a friend who used to cut while we were in high school and she stopped for about 3yrs. Now over the last few months alot of stuff has happened to her and she's started cutting again. I'm worried she might do something stupid. She's told me that she has cut twice in the last week. I've told her she needs to get help, but i don't know what else to do. Any help please

[pizzachick13]

Yes cutting can be a sign of depression. But it is basically a coping mechanism. It sounds like your friend has a lot of problems and in need of a friend. That's all you can do missjayne. Just be there for her and support her. She'll ask for help when she's ready. Just keep an eye on her cuts, just to make sure nothing bad happens.

 

Good Luck

 

Sappho...

[Lost1n7heDark]

Agreed on what Sapphos said. It can be a way to cope with depression, not exactly depression itself. Definitely look out for her, don't let it get too bad, be the best friend you could ever be, because like Sapphos said, she is in need of a good, understanding friend...

 

Good luck.

[jevonj77]

It is quite clear to me that the cutting of the wrist is a very BIG sign of depression.

 

In essense, she may be trying to kill herself. Many who have done this, do so with this exact intention. You must look out for her, but as the others have said, be as much of a friend as you can...Seek extra help, and do not betray her confidence in you.

[Lost1n7heDark]

jevonj77, please don't think that cutting your wrists mean you want to kill yourself. If you've ever done so, you should know that's not true. Many people cut their wrists as a way to keep themselves from suicide. And no. What you said about people with that intention is not true. Only a very small amount of people cut as a failed suicide attempt. Like I said before, people cut to cope with emotional pain, as punishment to themselves, so on so forth.

 

For some reason a lot of people make this misconception about cutters, and let me say one last time, people who cut are not trying to kill themselves. It is not true.

[jevonj77]

My words were MAY...this means that this MIGHT....meaning not DEFINET...

 

Also I said that MANY...not to mean ALL... that cut have the intention of doing so...

 

Yes, what you have said is also true, but this does not negate what I have also said.

 

You seem confused how someone would make the connection of wanting to kill themselves and cutting their wrist. Well...it is obvious...this is not something that you would do if you just wanted to have fun. It does not take a rocket scientist to make the connection. Now what you have said is also true...but I do not believe that when someone cuts...they have joined some association whereby they have to follow certian rules and if they do not then they are out. So there can be many reasons as to why someone cuts...and one of them is clear...It is not...because they are not depressed.

[anonymous_presence]

jevonj, you're right; some people cut with the intention of committing suicide. They are considered suicidal, not self injurers. For that reason, suicide is not really pertinent to the issue at hand.

[jevonj77]

You guys are acting like the person who posted this thread is very familiar with all of the ways in which cutting someone can be used...she is asking a question...now in the event that her friend is suicidal...her thinking that it is just a form of self punishment...which she did not tell us that...would be the wrong way to approach the situation when in fact there might not be that much time left.

 

It is not for us to say, just because this is under the label "Self Injury" to assume that the individual was completely sure of all the implications of what the person who is doing it to themselves is actually thinking. If it were so, she first of all wouldn't be as clueless as to ask is this a sign of depression...

 

Only the individual being cut can tell us if suicide is not pertinet to this issue or not...and this is for the friend, based on her new awarness of this being a possiblity, to find out. Not for us to say, well don't worry, she is not thinking of suicide and thereforeeee you are ok....WE don't know that and neither does she.

 

The only difference between a suicide and self injury is that one causes death...both are self injury. The individual that is cutting themselves is not part of some organization of the cutters...or is not part of some organization of the self injury group or whatever and if he or she is, we do not know that( being sarcastic).

[anonymous_presence]

Well, assuming that her friend told her that she was cutting herself, as opposed to telling her that she's suicidal, and assuming that if this were really an issue of suicide it would not be posted under self injury and in the suicide post, I'd have to say, in my very best opinion, that suicide isn't the concern here. Considering the fact that both the people, both her friend and the poster's assessment, have not mentioned nor identified the problem as suicide...

[jevonj77]

Look, it may seem like we are arguing...but this is just for clarification.

 

 

Well, assuming that her friend told her that she was cutting herself, as opposed to telling her that she's suicidal, and assuming that if this were really an issue of suicide it would not be posted under self injury and in the suicide post, I'd have to say, in my very best opinion, that suicide isn't the concern here.

 

This is what you wrote as you know. Now from this I am lead to believe that you would agree with the assertation that one can assume things. So with this in mind, is it not safe to assume that the friend might not tell her friend everything? You do believe that this could be a possiblity correct? It is as if you are saying that just because she told her, then that is it. Have you ever not told someone the whole story to someone just because you either did not want to be stopped or you did not want to hurt them? Well maybe not.

 

Now of course, I can see that most likely suicide is not an option here. I know that people have much more exacting ways of killing themselves. However, this does not mean, that A, she could not still kill herself by doing this, and that B, she might not be withholding this information from her friend.

 

My only suggestion, was to have her friend be more aware of this possiblity while you are saying that she shouldn't even think about it. You don't have enough information to make that decision.

 

Like I said, the only real difference between suicide and self injury is that in one of the situations, someone dies. If this were not a possibility in the cutting of the wrist...then why should anyone be worrying anyways? If there were no possiblity of any serious injury...would anyone consider it a problem at all?

[anonymous_presence]

Ok, now that you've refined your opinions and/or clarified yourself, I do agree with you in some respects. The original statement I disagreed with was

In essense, she may be trying to kill herself.

There is a much larger psychological distinction between suicide and self injury that you don't seem to be grasping. It is important to not underestimate the importance of this distinction. One is a coping mechanism; the other is a direct attempt to terminate one's life. Coping mechanism means a way to deal with problems, a.k.a a means of survival. There's much more to it than whether or not the person dies in the end, as you so eloquently put it.

 

In response to your recent post, of course cutting is a concern, no matter the severity of the individual case. Regardless of the situation, outside help is needed, as in counselling and the like. It is a problem that needs to be dealt with, and the fact that her friend confided in her probably means that she is seeking help in an indirect and perhaps subconscious way. This is a good sign, but she still needs professional help dealing with her problems to stop her self injury.

[metallicachica247]

cutting is a total sign of depression, usually that is why people self injure