Discussion are there anyone who self harmed first time as an adult

[jilet]

i did my first self harm when i was 20ish. today i was in therapy and my doctor stated that there are very very few people who harmed themselves for the first time old as i am. he said its usually starts in teenage years but mine started in 20ies and become worse as im 25 years old. are there people like me who had that habit old as i am? also do you think is there a stigma that sh is mostly common in teenaged people and especially woman?

 

[webb&flow]

i think it's a good thing that you were able to hold it off until later . that's an accomplishment, not a detriment

and yes there are certainly many people (around your age range too) who have this habit too . many of them are around this forum as well

i hope your therapy sessions are going well by the way . wishing you well

 

[jilet]

i think it's a good thing that you were able to hold it off until later . that's an accomplishment, not a detriment

and yes there are certainly many people (around your age range too) who have this habit too . many of them are around this forum as well

i hope your therapy sessions are going well by the way . wishing you well

thanks

 

[Eriktf]

I have done some sh over the years but never liked it or got anything out of it

Tryed it mostly because there are alot of people doing sh and I was curious if it helped in any way but it didn't.

In total i have Cut myself 5-10 times with probably 10-20 so colled cat stretches everytime

First time at around 20 maybe 22 last time at 24.

Im a guy and probably the last guy you had suspected to sh if you meet me

 

[FinalDestination]

I really relate with you. I started relatively recently mid 20s
I don't necessarily get as much relief maybe some control. I wouldn't be in a place mentally to stop because of that, I do think it's a byproduct of bottling things up so long

All the best

 

[ilovecats1]

i did some mild cutting that i dont even really count and starving as a teen. i dont rly sh anymore but i want to the only thing stopping me is the attention id get from it.

 

[Rev346]

I first started when I was 26. My thought process was "I'm going to learn to cut myself in my arm, then somewhere more sensitive, and once I desensitize myself enough I should be able to cut a vital area and die." Right after my first cut I learned how addictive cutting was.
I usually do hear that most cutters are teens but that could just be because that's what the news said. I guess it all depends on why you choose to SH.

 

[synthetic_suicide]

I've started self-harming at 40, 1 year ago. I had to deal with a very rough health issue for 3 years and counting (along with bipolar), losing less harmful coping mechanisms along the way. I still feel stupid because I have huge scars from burning that I don't think will ever heal. Luckily they're easily conceivable. Now I am 2 months sober.

 

[matsuzaka]

i did my first self harm when i was 20ish. today i was in therapy and my doctor stated that there are very very few people who harmed themselves for the first time old as i am. he said its usually starts in teenage years but mine started in 20ies and become worse as im 25 years old. are there people like me who had that habit old as i am? also do you think is there a stigma that sh is mostly common in teenaged people and especially woman?

hopefully your doctor didn't make you feel bad for cutting so late? if he did thats a terrible thing for him to say. cutting yourself later in life is fairly common among my friends that have experience with it and I hope your therapy goes well moving onwards!

i personally started cutting when i was 20 years old and as a woman i definetly do see the stigma that sh is more common teenage people and in women but i dont think that should demerit sh done by anyone else. all sh deserves to be taken seriously and with treatment and care.

 

[Passenger4224]

ik when it comes to self harm people usually refer to cutting, I haven't ever cut myself but I sometimes starve myself for a long time or hit myself repeatedly in the head with an object until I can't anymore

Started at 20 yrs old, closeted trans woman

 

[rottenbeing]

I sometimes starve myself for a long time or hit myself repeatedly in the head with an object until I can't anymore

Same here. I just starve myself for days and don't take care of myself.

 

[mmoebread]

i started at 19 but i don't really do it as often. i lurk on shtwt sometimes and so many people on there like are 15-16, it's like an echo chamber there and it's so competitive. i feel so bad but there's not really a good space to talk ab sh

 

[jilet]

i started at 19 but i don't really do it as often. i lurk on shtwt sometimes and so many people on there like are 15-16, it's like an echo chamber there and it's so competitive. i feel so bad but there's not really a good space to talk ab sh

lurking on stupid shtwt and seeing what you saw there made me posting this to be honest.

hopefully your doctor didn't make you feel bad for cutting so late? if he did thats a terrible thing for him to say. cutting yourself later in life is fairly common among my friends that have experience with it and I hope your therapy goes well moving onwards!

i personally started cutting when i was 20 years old and as a woman i definetly do see the stigma that sh is more common teenage people and in women but i dont think that should demerit sh done by anyone else. all sh deserves to be taken seriously and with treatment and care.

he seems mostly neutral towards my cutting actually. thanks for your reply.

i want to thank everyone who replied i feel much better now.

 

[kompyany]

Here, I am an adult and I really want to cut myself. When I was a teenager, I was taught that it was disgraceful, harmful, and bad. No one around me had ever done it. My parents were very strict with me, and once I started cutting, they would immediately notice and stop me from continuing this behavior.
But after I became an adult and lived alone outside, when I browsed online pictures of bloodstains and scars from cutting, I felt envious, a strong desire. I felt very sorry, as if I had lost a teenage period that should have been full of bleeding and "those". I was very sad and felt extremely lost.
Although I had various self-harming behaviors in the past, such as binge eating, forced staying up late, forced taking sleeping pills and inducing emotions, none of them had any identifiable traces. When I was a child, I often scratched my skin with my nails while crying, which was very satisfying and relieving. There were obvious deep scratches on my thighs, which expanded as I grew older, but the location of the scratches was too hidden and hardly anyone noticed.
Now what troubles me is not how painful it is or anything else, but my age. Even though I am despised for this behavior by others, they can still excuse it by saying "She was just misled by the bad information on the internet, she was just following the trend, the bad information should be dealt with instead". But now I am a "judgmental" adult, and in the past decade of bipolar disorder, I have never cut myself. And starting to cut in my twenties would seem very strange and incomprehensible, like you know, it seems to be a privilege exclusive to teenagers. It was only after I became an adult that I first started dealing with the psychological aspects related to cutting. Yes, it was only after I became an adult that I particularly wanted to cut, really wanted to cut. But my age made me feel extremely ashamed, which meant I had to be completely exposed to the adult society. I am no longer a teenager, but I think I am to some extent still a teenager.