TeenHealthFX - Answers - Cutting Has Started To Turn Into Suicide Attempts

Suicide / Question
Published: July 25, 2007

Dear TeenHealthFX,

So I’ve been cutting for about 2 years now. They've started to turn into suicide attempts, so I stopped because I don't necessarily want to die all the time. However without cutting I am completely miserable. All the alternatives I have tried caused more trouble than the self injuring. It went from drugs to food to sex and now a desperate cry for help. Unlike all the others on here, I tell my parents what is bothering me. They just couldn't care less. What should I do?

Signed: Cutting Has Started To Turn Into Suicide Attempts

Dear Cutting Has Started To Turn Into Suicide Attempts,

TeenHealthFX is certainly glad that you stopped cutting because you do not want to follow through with any suicidal thoughts/tendencies. However, we can appreciate that simply stopping the cutting has left you feeling “completely miserable” because it sounds like the underlying problem that has contributed to your cutting has not been addressed or worked out at all. The fact that you do tell your parents about your self-cutting and suicide attempts, but that you feel they could “care less” is part of the problem here. People who self-cut often feel unheard, misunderstood, or not cared for by the people closest to them.

FX recommends that you meet with a mental health professional trained in working with teens who self-cut, as well as working with families. It is important that you begin to identify and work through the contributing factors to your self-cutting, as well to develop healthy and effective alternatives to self-cutting. It would also be extremely helpful for you and your parents to meet together with a therapist to address the relationship issues that are contributing to your feelings and behaviors around the self-cutting. Your parents need to understand how their attitudes towards you are affecting you, as well as what they can do differently to provide you with the support and guidance you need to deal with this problem.

If you live in northern New Jersey and need help finding a therapist you can call the Access Center from Atlantic Behavioral Health at 973-247-1400. Outside of this area you can log onto the US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website for referrals in your area.

You can also contact the Self-Injury Hotline (information only, not a crisis line) at 1-800-DON’T-CUT, 1-800-366-8288.

If you get to the point that you are seriously considering suicide or are afraid of your impulses then you need to seek help immediately. You can call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room. In northern New Jersey you can also call the crisis hotline from Morristown Memorial hospital at 973-540-0100. Outside this area call the Suicide & Crisis Hotline, 1-800-999-9999, 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Signed: TeenHealthFX