Cutting Addiction: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Cutting addiction is an act of harming one’s skin by using sharp objects without the intention of suicide. It is an impulsive disorder common in adolescents aged 12-19 years. 

The signs and symptoms of cutting addiction include unexplained cuts, scars, mood swings, and relationship difficulties. An individual can develop cutting addiction due to emotional dysregulation, family problems, mental health issues, and substance abuse. 

Cutting addiction can affect physical and mental health by causing bleeding, scars, infection, and mental health issues. In order to prevent these physical and mental health effects, an individual with cutting addiction should be treated with psychotherapy, medications, mindfulness, and lifestyle changes.

What is cutting addiction?

Cutting addiction is a type of self-harm where an individual repeatedly harms themselves on purpose in an impulsive but non-lethal way, as defined by the Mental Health America organization.  

Cutting addiction, a type of non-suicidal self-injury is to intentionally destroy one’s body tissue without suicidal intent, according to the book ‘Understanding non-suicidal self-injury: Origins, assessment, and treatment’ written by Matthew K. Nock from Harvard University in 2009.

What is the difference between cutting addiction and self harm?

The difference between cutting addiction and self harm is that cutting addiction is a type of self-harm where an individual cuts themselves on purpose without the intention of suicide. Whereas self-harm occurs when an individual harms themselves through different ways like cutting, burning, head banging, inserting objects in the body, and drug abuse in the absence of suicidal intent. 

What is the relation between cutting addiction and suicide?

There is a positive relationship between cutting addiction and suicide. Individuals who engage in self-harm, like cutting, have an elevated risk of suicide compared to non-self-harming suicidal individuals, as mentioned in a study by Sarah Herzog et al. in The British Journal of Psychiatry in 2022. Cutting addicts have less fear of physical pain that otherwise reduces suicidal risk. Cutting addiction reduces the acute risk of suicide but increases the long-term occurrence of suicide.   

What are the signs and symptoms of cutting addiction?

The signs and symptoms of cutting addiction are the following.

1. Unexplained cuts.
2. Owning unnecessary sharp objects.
3. Wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants.
4. Frequent reporting of accidental injury.
5. Excessive skin scars.
6. Mood swings.
7. Relationship difficulties. 

1. Unexplained cuts

An unexplained cut is a break or opening in the skin. 

Unexplained cuts are the most critical sign of cutting addiction. The individual is frequently covered in bandages or shows up with cut injuries. A cutting addict justifies their unexplained cuts with unbelievable and made-up stories.  

2. Owning unnecessary sharp objects

A sharp object is any object that tends to puncture or lacerate the skin. 

Cutting addicts own sharp objects like razors, scissors, and knives, which are found in unusual places like a purse, drawer, or other hidden areas. Other common sharp objects are glass shards, box cutters, and pins. 

3. Wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants 

Long sleeve shirts and long pants are the apparel that fully cover both arms and legs. 

A sign of cutting addiction is that the addicts wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to hide the cuts or bruises, even in hot weather. Cutting addicts, like any other behavioral addict, have a habit of hiding their cuts from family and friends. 

4. Frequent reports of accidental injury

An accidental injury is a sudden, unintended, unforetold, and unexpected event resulting in injury to a person and property.

Cutting addicts report having an accidental injury like falling, hitting a pole, or accidentally cutting during kitchen chores on a regular basis. These injuries occur regularly without a known cause.   

5. Excessive skin scars

A scar is the body’s natural way of healing and replacing lost or damaged skin. 

Cutting addicts have excessive scars on their arms, thighs, chest, and almost everywhere on the body. A skin cut heals naturally by growing new tissue and filling in the gaps the wound leaves. It then converts into a thick fibrous tissue called a scar. 

6. Mood swings

Mood swings are sudden, intense changes of feelings from happiness to sadness or vice versa. Cutting addicts experience frequent mood swings along with feelings of anxiety and depression. The prevalence of self-harm is higher in individuals with emotional dysregulation and depression, according to a study, “Self-Harm, Affective Traits, and Psychosocial Functioning in Adults With Depressive and Bipolar Disorders” published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease in 2017.

7. Relationship difficulties 

Relationship difficulties mean the failure to manage the differences between two people and a loss of sense of affection.  

Cutting addicts face relationship difficulties due to frequent mood swings, emotional dysregulation, and depression. They prefer isolation and avoid putting effort into social and personal relationships. According to a study by Heather McClelland et al. published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, loneliness due to romantic partners, family, or social issues is associated with self-harm activities.  

How do you tell if someone is cutting?

You can tell if someone is cutting through unexplained cuts or abrasions, strange scars, blood on a person’s belongings, and unusual covering of the skin. 

1. Unexplained cuts or abrasions

You can tell if someone is cutting if you observe frequent cuts or bandages on arms, chest, thighs, or other body areas that can be reached easily. 

2. Strange scars

You can tell if someone is cutting if you see strange scars on reachable parts of their body. These scars can either be fresh or old. 

3. Blood on a person’s belongings

If you discover blood stains on hand towels, clothing, bags, or any other personal belongings without any proper justification, then it’s a big sign of self-injury. Finding blood-soaked tissues in the trash can is another sign that someone is cutting.

4. Covering the skin

Someone with a cutting addiction tries to cover up the skin by wearing long sleeves and long pants all the time (even if it’s hot) to cover up the scars or wounds from others.

What are the causes of cutting addiction?

The causes of cutting addiction are emotional dysregulation, abuse victim and family problems, mental health issues, substance abuse, and friends with cutting addiction. 

1. Emotional Dysregulation

Emotion dysregulation is an individual’s inability to control or regulate their emotional responses to a stimulus. 

Individuals who are unable to cope with stress and emotions in a healthy way resort to self-harm, like cutting. Cutting is a destructive way of expressing their emotions or distracting themselves from internal pain. Young individuals with self-harm capabilities like cutting addiction have more emotional dysregulation and aggression than others, according to a study by Elin Anita Fadum et al. published in the BMJ Journals in 2021. 

2. Abuse Victim and Family Problems

Experience of sexual, physical, and emotional assault like domestic violence and unstable family environment can cause cutting addiction. The most frequent problems of self-harm activities, like cutting, in adolescents are due to family problems, according to a study authored by Ellen Townsend et al. and published in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health journal in 2022. 

3. Mental Health Issues 

Self-critical people with poor problem-solving skills are at increased risk of cutting addiction because they’re unable to manage their emotions in stressful situations. 

Individuals with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorders have a higher chance of non-suicidal self-injury events like cutting, as described in a study by Sheila K. Marshall et al. in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and another study by Milton Brown et al. in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. 

4. Substance Abuse

People with substance addiction are prone to self-cutting due to their inability to manage their emotions. They may resort to other types of addictions, like cutting addiction to gain pleasure through dopamine highs.  

5. Friends with Cutting Addiction

Having friends with cutting addiction increases the risk of an individual’s risk of engaging in self-harm activities like cutting.

What are the effects of cutting addiction?

The effects of cutting addiction are bleeding and bruising, permanent scarring, infection, and general mental distress according to the studies published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, JPRAS Open, and WHO. 

1. Bleeding and bruising

Bleeding is the loss of blood from the circulatory system due to damaged blood vessels, while bruising is blood under the skin after an injury.

The effect of cutting addiction is bleeding and bruising due to damage to blood vessels, as mentioned in a study by Hayley Chartrand et al. published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. 

2. Scarring

A scar is a fibrous tissue that forms when normal tissue is destroyed by disease, injury, or surgery. 

Individuals with cutting addiction sometimes get permanent scars due to unhealthy healing of the skin tissue, according to a study by Weiguang Ho et al. published in the JPRAS Open in 2018.

3. Infection

Frequent cuts can lead to infected wounds because germs like viruses and bacteria enter through them. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tetanus and sepsis are acquired through an infection of a cut or wound.  

4. General Mental Distress 

The effect of cutting addiction on mental health is general distress that encompasses anxiety, depression, antisocial and psychotic symptoms, OCD, and low self-esteem. 

A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders by Paul Oliver Wilkinson et al. in 2022 found a greater incidence of general distress in young people aged 14-25 years who engage in non-suicidal self-injury activities like cutting addiction. 

How does Cutting addiction affect your physical health?

Cutting addiction affects your physical health due to bleeding, bruising, infection, permanent scarring, gangrene, nerve damage, and injured muscles, tendons, and blood vessels. 

Frequent cutting can cause too much blood loss and result in permanent scarring. Deep cuts can damage nerves, leading to permanent weakness, numbness, or even loss of movement. Furthermore, cuts can cause infections like tetanus and blood infections if they’re not treated adequately. If the infection persists and gangrene forms, amputation may occur.    

How can Cutting addiction affect your mental health?

Cutting addiction can affect your mental health due to feelings of unworthiness, loneliness, and destroyed relationships. These feelings of unworthiness and loneliness result in anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts, as mentioned by Matthew Nock and Armaruio Favazza in their book published by the American Psychological Association.

How does Cutting addiction affect your brain?

Cutting addiction and other non-suicidal self-injuries affects your brain due to overactivation in the fronto-limbic system of the brain, which includes the amygdala, according to a study “Advancing a temporal framework for understanding the biology of nonsuicidal self- injury: An expert review” published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews in 2021. Self-injury, like cutting skin, decreases stress in the amygdala and increases the amount of dopamine in the brain, according to a study by Patrice van der Venne et al. published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. 

Adolescents are vulnerable to cutting addiction because their emotional distress and physical pain neural pathways may have been altered due to their ongoing brain development changes, leading to emotional dysregulation and poor impulse control, according to a study by Elizabeth Ballard et al. published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence in 2009.

What are the types of cutting addiction treatment?

The types of cutting addiction treatment are psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, medications, support groups, family therapy, mindfulness practices, and lifestyle changes. Although there is no time frame for recovering from cutting addiction, it takes an average of 1-3 months to witness positive results. 

1. Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy encompasses a broad range of treatment protocols for psychological disorders focused on verbal communication and interaction. Multiple psychotherapeutic measures like cognitive behavioral therapy, emotional regulation group therapy, family therapy, problem-solving therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy show positive results in treating non-suicidal self-injuries like cutting, according to a study published by Jason J Washburn et al. in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health Journal in 2012. 

2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that challenges negative thoughts about self and the world to help foster positive thoughts. Cognitive behavioral therapy and problem-solving therapy help individuals enhance positive orientation and reduce avoidance of stress to life problems. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy is the best treatment intervention in cutting addiction, a type of non-suicidal self-injury, according to a study by Jennifer J. Muehlenkamp published in the Journal of Mental Health Counseling in 2006. 

3. Medications

Medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) help treat behavioral addictions. However, there is no evidence proving its effectiveness in treating cutting addiction or non-suicidal self-injury in general, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published by Vincent Eggart et al. in 2022 in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.  

4. Support groups

Support groups are groups of people facing the same challenges and providing emotional comfort and encouragement to each other. Cutting addiction, like any other behavioral addiction, can be improved through the right support groups. However, there are no global support groups for cutting addiction.

5. Family Therapy

Family therapy is a type of group psychotherapy that focuses on improving the relationships and behaviors among a family. Family therapy treats an insecure parental attachment, which is a root cause of adolescent cutting addiction. Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) increase the accessibility and responsiveness of parents to their children, ensuring a secure base to foster behavioral changes.

6. Mindfulness practices

Mindfulness is defined as a non-judgemental acceptance and awareness of the present moment. Mindfulness is a part of dialectical behavioral therapy, which is an effective treatment for cutting addiction. It reduces the urge to cut oneself by improving emotional regulation and distress tolerance.

7. Lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes can help treat cutting addiction by improving the quality of life of an individual. Exercise has been found to channel negative energies and reduce the urge to engage in cutting activities, as found in a study published by E. David Klonsky and Catherine Glenn in the Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy Journal in 2008. 

Is cutting addiction a type of self harm?

Yes, cutting addiction is a type of self-harm without suicidal intent. Non-suicidal self-harm or injury is intentionally destroying one’s skin or body without the intent to die, as defined by Annarosa Cipriano et al. in a systematic review found in Frontiers in Psychology. 

Can teens suffer a cutting addiction withdrawal?

Yes, teens can suffer a cutting addiction withdrawal because their body is used to the dopamine high felt after cutting skin, just like any other addiction. The symptoms of cutting addiction withdrawal include irritability, poor sleep, anxiety, cravings, tiredness, and shakiness. 

Is cutting addiction a type of behavioral addiction?

Yes, cutting addiction is a type of behavioral addiction because an individual compulsively engages in an activity like cutting. However, it has not been formally added to the types of behavioral addiction. 

Is cutting addiction a disease?

Yes, cutting addiction is a disease. Cutting addiction is a type of non-suicidal self-injury, which is a recognized disorder according to the DSM-5 2013 model.

Is cutting addiction genetic?

Yes, cutting addiction can be genetic. Cutting addiction, a non-suicidal self-injury, has a moderate genetic predisposition, as found by a study published by ‪Dominique Maciejewski‬ et al. in JAMA Psychiatry in 2014.

Why is cutting so addictive for teens?

Cutting is addictive for teens because they are unable to regulate and cope with deep-set emotions. Since teens experience impulsive behaviors and emotional dysregulation frequently, they have a greater risk of getting addicted to cutting.

Is Cutting addiction a choice?

Cutting addiction is not a choice since non-suicidal self-injury is a mental disorder. Anyone can suffer from cutting addiction, but it is more common in adolescents.