does anyone else on the spectrum cut themselfs?

Page 2 of 4 [ 62 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next

Joined: 15 Dec 2015
Age: 22
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 2,658
Location: Maine

12 Feb 2016, 10:11 am

I, Try to stay away from this behavior, though I do some self-injurious stims. No ones more serious than some soft head banging though.

_________________
[color=#0066cc]ever changing evolving and growing
I am pieplup i have level 3 autism and a number of severe mental illnesses. I am rarely active on here anymore.
I run a discord for moderate-severely autistic people if anyone would like to join. You can also contact me on discord @Pieplup

obsessingoverobsessions
Pileated woodpecker

Joined: 20 Dec 2015
Gender: Male
Posts: 178

12 Feb 2016, 11:27 am

I don't cut myself personally, but I do bite and punch myself. I usually punch something hard like a wall, but when there are people around who would hear, I bite/punch myself.

_________________
Aspie quiz score:
152 of 200 neurodiverse (Aspie)
48 of 200 neurotypical (non-autistic)

You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)

Jamieohs
Blue Jay

Joined: 23 Dec 2015
Posts: 84
Location: United Kingdom

12 Feb 2016, 3:52 pm

Never have and never will, doing something to deliberately cause injury to myself just seems stupid if I'm honest.

_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 147 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 64 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)

Raleigh
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 7 Jul 2014
Age: 125
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 34,609
Location: Out of my mind

12 Feb 2016, 4:02 pm

I often self-harm during meltdowns, sometimes violently.
It seems odd, but I find it calming at the time.
It makes me feel terrible afterwards though - like I'm some kind of psycho.

_________________
It's like I'm sleepwalking

pezar
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 5 Apr 2008
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,432

12 Feb 2016, 4:44 pm

To 886, I know that NTs can make some very dumb body decisions as teens/young adults, for example my mom once knew this woman whose daughter ran with outlaw bikers, and who wound up covered with weird tattoos. When she got out of the biker scene, she had to wear long sleeve turtleneck sweaters and long pants all the time to cover the tattoos. That was the only way she could find and keep a job. I also saw a woman in the supermarket during summer, she must have been in her 50s, who was wearing long sleeve/long leg clothes despite the heat, and a closer look revealed she had "sleeve" tattoos on her arms and legs, really old ones. I can only surmise that she had lots of tattoos on the rest of her body too.

100000fireflies
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 2 Jan 2016
Age: 124
Posts: 552

12 Feb 2016, 4:52 pm

btbnnyr wrote:

So it is a way to release bad feelings, I see now.

When i was a pre-teen, it happened naturally. I had never heard of anyone doing it and there was no such phrase as self-harm nor people who burned things as a tattoo alternative. I tried to keep the results hidden, but at times it was spotted.. At which point, i was the loon of loons. I was able to explain it..though no one understood.. I was so incredibly filled with psychological pain that i was about to explode. Doing so transferred the psychic pain into physical and thus released some of it.

Endorphins and all that i'm sure helped me feel better too. But at the time, it was purely instinctive.

Being in healthier states of mind, i have reached points of not understanding why someone would do that!?! But..experientially, i'll always understand.

_________________
"When does the human cost become too high for the building of a better machine?"

Last edited by 100000fireflies on 12 Feb 2016, 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Pergerlady
Snowy Owl

Joined: 9 Jan 2016
Gender: Female
Posts: 138
Location: Turnersville, NJ, USA

12 Feb 2016, 4:58 pm

Due to the societal stigma attached to autism, I think that self-harm is common behavior among people on the spectrum. As a teenager, I used to hurt myself intentionally all the time--cutting, biting, burning, and one time I punched myself in the nose so hard that I made myself bleed. Luckily, since I've had treatment for depression, self-harm is rare behavior in me...although I still slap myself on occasion.

beakybird
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 Dec 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,789
Location: nj

12 Feb 2016, 4:59 pm

886 wrote:

i did it for a while when i was 17..

i'm 26 now. i can look back and honestly say it was probably one of the dumbest things i've ever done. i didn't really get any sort of physical satisfaction from it. i suppose i just liked people feeling sorry for me when i did it. i'd waltz around the house in short sleeves, i'd want my parents to see. i'd brag about it at school, even at work, i'd take pictures of it and post it on internet forums, i just didn't care. i liked the attention, i liked people feeling sorry for me, i liked it when people saw me for what i felt i was, pathetic. there was never any suicidal intentions from it for me, granted i very much wanted to die, i knew it wasn't going to happen cutting sideways. there were days where i got so angry or anxious and i'd think i needed to cut, but i never truly needed to. it didn't stop the anxiety and my problems didn't go away. it did nothing. it was a temporary distraction to a temporary feeling.

but now of course, i'm 26, my arms are all scarred up and i can't explain it away. i have to wear long sleeves, even when it's 110 in the summer. i'm ashamed and embarrassed to have to show or admit that to anyone in person, and it's even harder to admit that to women i'm dating (i typically don't until i absolutely have to) i can't and never will be able to look someone in the eye and tell them honestly why i did it. i have to live, the rest of my life, with marked up arms because of a few poor decisions i made as a teenager.

if you're looking at those pictures thinking "i should do this" think again. it's just a ridiculous fad people do and it needs to go away. cause one day, you'll be 26, you'll be in the real world with a real job and real responsibilities, and hell you might even have overcome depression. but you'll never have any confidence knowing what's beneath your shirt. there is absolutely no good reason to pick up cutting, ever. if you need an escape, find something else that won't be a lifetime decision.

now with that said, that's just my own experience, and my only diagnosis is asperger's. i'm not going to speak for people who cut during meltdowns, or can't control their anger, or have other outlying mental illness issues - i don't know what it's like to be in that situation or how cutting can help (or not help) someone there. and i'm not going to speculate. i'm not here to shame anyone for what they're currently doing, i'm only trying to convince more people to not do it. so no flame me pls

I second your notion that it is not something anyone should consider. At all. It's not an answer. I personally did not mean to present it as one if I did.

I am not embarrassed by it however. I wear short sleeves and shorts (I did quite a few deep cuts on my legs too) and if someone asks me I'll tell them. I really don't care what they think because they haven't walked in my shoes. I can respect why someone would be embarrassed about it, so I'm not knocking you for saying that, or anything here. I guess more encouraging you to not be embarrassed because the people who may be judging you most likely have no idea what it's like to have the same issues as you. We all experience things in life, make good and bad decisions and we have to live with them.

If all of our worst decisions were visible on our flesh we'd all have a lot to be embarrassed about.

androbot01
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Sep 2014
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,746
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

12 Feb 2016, 5:53 pm

I started cutting at around 12 years old and still occasionally do. For me, I totally lose my temper and become angry with myself. It's out of frustration.

11th
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 9 Oct 2015
Age: 27
Posts: 6

12 Feb 2016, 6:07 pm

I have selfharmed quite alot. Started back when i was 11. I've had a break for about a year now, although my scars will never fade and it will take many years before they are healed. My whole left arm is filled with scars, many of which should have been stiched (but were not).

beakybird
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 Dec 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,789
Location: nj

12 Feb 2016, 6:14 pm

11th wrote:

Don't look back but ahead. You can't change what you've done, but can control what you will do.

We all have scars, mental or physical. It's part of your journey, good or bad. Continue to leave it behind and move on. There are better ways.

CockneyRebel
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 118,215
Location: In my little Olympic World of peace and love

12 Feb 2016, 7:56 pm

I don't, but I have friends on the spectrum who do.

_________________
The Family Enigma

100000fireflies
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 2 Jan 2016
Age: 124
Posts: 552

12 Feb 2016, 8:12 pm

Re: the other question, for me at least, it wasn't about suicide..that is a whole other can..if anything it was sheer desperation for self-preservation. The alternative being remaining in that state without release and having no other coping method, it kept me alive.

_________________
"When does the human cost become too high for the building of a better machine?"

kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

12 Feb 2016, 8:20 pm

I've never cut myself.....but I've slapped myself in various places and banged my head against walls and metal poles.

redrobin62
Veteran
Veteran