Recreational cutters?

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Okay. I cut myself more or less regularly, but not for those reasons people in general cut for. As I've heard on cutters' forums, for other people, there is much sadness/pain/dissociation/trauma/depression/self-deprecation involved. For me? None of these. When I cut it can be a celebration, a fun thing to do, a thing like masturbation (as in a tool to stimulate myself in a strong way for physical enjoyment), a routine activity (as I need to get new wounds when the old ones can't be picked anymore, as it has became my morning ritual to pick them and eat the covers), and a technique to make me more energized (as it raises dopamine levels). I also gained inspiration for my creative writing from cutting. Of course, I'm strictly careful not to endanger my life (with an usual max. depth of 0,5 cm, and not anywhere near visible vessels), it's not a suicidal thing for me.

Most people say self-injury is "damaging yourself". I never thought of it as causing damage, mainly because it's not life-threatening (well, if you're careful, of course), or because it doesn't feel like damage. (Overheat [there are times I cannot sweat, like my brain doesn't realize it's hot], for example, feels like damage, and also dehydration. Though I sometimes have a hard time recognizing what kind of damage it is... but a great clue is that if my palms are hurting like the skin could break, then it's a case of forgetting to drink, which happens very frequently...) My experience of pain is quite peculiar, sometimes tremendous pain signals a minor bump into something that doesn't even cause a visible injury, and sometimes I get black and blue without having a clue where I got that.

Another thing about my cuts is that clotted, but not yet healed wounds, which I pick open whenever I lose the feeling that they're there, provide a "presence" perception of my limb, or at least the part of the limb they're located on.

So, I wonder, is it "an aspie thing", or some unique thing? Are any other recreational cutters here?

Hahaha, wow, I totally love cutting just for the pain and novelty of it.

And in regards to it not threatening your life, I agree completely.

Also noticed your MSN addy is R. Daneel... Which makes me want to be partner Elijah.

eeuw

uhhhhh i used to cut but not for recreation?

I can understand that.

I don't cut, but I am a picker/scratcher. If I get a bug bite or blister or chapped lips I will sometimes pull at the skin a little more than would be considered normal because it feels good. And if I get a weird chin hair I have to pull out, or a splinter, it feels really good. Specially if I kind of have to dig around in there for it.

Sorry if this is giving anyone the screaming heebie-jeebies.

Also, I have always gotten bruises from I-don't-know-where, my whole life. Yet I can't stand to get a haircut and have to be given valium for a teeth cleaning. But still all of this seems pretty range-of-normal. It still hurts if I stub my toe. Or bite my tongue.

And here I thought it was just me lol

Nobody believes me when I say I cut not because I was depressed, but because I liked the feel of it. I don't do it anymore (too many scars already!), but it was fun for awhile. My pain receptors are a bit stunted I think, so it didn't hurt, and I only ever used a super-sharp razorblade, because I liked the strange feel of my skin opening a little bit. As a young kid I would bang my wrists against the tile windows in my bathroom, because I liked the numb feeling and the dull ache later; to this day I enjoy putting my hands in very hot water. I guess I've been a bit self-destructive in my stims, but not because I wanted to hurt myself... just because.

^^^

same here usually (except mosquito bites, although thats because whenever I scratch one I keep going till its raw and the outermost layers of skin are gone and it's turned shiny pink/red). I also sometimes get sore fingers/blisters on my fingers from playing too much guitar/bass after a bit of not playing, and I just keep playing through them because of the feeling.


Also for those of you who cut for recreation, make sure you use a sterile blade and try to sterilize the area, because infections can be life/limb threatening too.

I do it for all of the usual reasons and for fun, as well as because I want to have a scar in a particular shape, or of particular words. I don't do it much these days, though.

Proabably a unique approach to an aspie thing. I used to bite my limbs to feel there presence. Otherwise, I did much the same - simply forgot they were there!

Which shapes have you made?

Mainly squares and other simple shapes, which have faded. The best (and most visible) one is a spiral on my left knee. The next one I've got planned is one based on this box illusion:

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it's commonly a spectrum wide thing [auties,aspies,PDDNOS,ASD], though am doubt only spectrumers do it for the non well known reasons.
being more common amongst spectrummers,maybe one reason could be because often have bigger differences with touch/feel and pain threshold,so might get more out of doing it for....non well known reasons.



am not sure if this is the same meaning as recreational,but besides other reasons,am always cut for sensory input as am have no pain threshold/no feeling of pain on outside of body-but only ever do it on left arm and left leg.
the pressure from digging in and the scraping gives am some sense of outside input,it helps am to feel where body actually is,have had quite a few accidents where have gone too deep,but knives,scissors etc are locked away and can only get hold of short things like bits of glass,stones.. from the alleyway.

Whoa. I almost demand you take a picture if you do it. That seems friggin' awesome.

Has anyone met an OAP cutter?

Well sometimes I scratch realy hard, whenever I come out of the shower I have huge scratch marks on my back. I have long nailes so mine leave more marks, it just feels good to scratch though others think that I am doing it too hard.

Wow, it's really my first time to get replies like this, on other forums I started this very thread and got even banned two times....

Who_Am_I: That box illusion is great awesome indeed! I just carve is some abbreviations sometimes, like LWI (Live With It, my local aspie community), or simple triangles, random Roman numerals, etc. My first cut ever was a pentagram (barely visible now because of overwriting and 6 long years).

Cameo: See? We're not alone! :excitedbeyondrecognition: As for too many scars: I got to using all 4 limbs and occasional overwriting. Did you too?

Sim: This means you'd add me on MSN?

Atomsk: Yah, same here, mosquitoes think I'm their best delicacy... as a kid my arms/legs were ful of holes because I scratched the bite till they bleed... now I don't go out that much ^_^

OMG my first successful thread ever! Thanks for everyone for replying.