sure cutting isn't an illness. but it can be caused by any stress-related mental illnesses, because it causes a release of endorphins from the brain, relieving stress.

**** you.

Actually, I've seen underweight people with them! It was really unexpected because I thought only fat people had them from weight gain but nope.. apparently not.

I weigh 52 kilos and I have stretch marks on my upper thighs. I'm 16 and I've never been fat.

I don't give a shit if I offend or belittle cutters who think they have a mental illness and can't help themselves to stop. It's all bullshit attention whoring, and "science proves" these bullshit mental illnesses because everyone has to be politically correct in our society, and we can't just say "anorexics/bulimics/cutters are attention ******."

You're totally right, when people have neurotransmitter and hormone imbalances in their brain causing them to have these behaviors, addictions, and obsessions it is TOTALLY all for attention. In fact I'm pretty sure Mr. Fudrick that people suffering from Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa have complete control over their ventromedial hypothalamus and lateral hypothalamus, and I'm willing to wager that you do too! I bet its just like controlling your hand and foot movements, isn't it? As for the cutters, I'm sure that before they start showing signs of NSSI and go to seek professional help, they alter the rate at which their brain makes and uses Serotonin, Norepinephrine, and Dopamine as to skew lab results. Those tricky emo kids... always up to something! How could I be so wrong as to have doubted a clearly uninformed ********?

... You have control of your own body. You can stop yourself from throwing up, or cutting yourself, and you can make yourself eat. Yes, there are sometime chemical imbalances in the brains of some of those who cut or are bulimic/anorexic. There are also many people with those imbalances who DON'T do those things. Also, it isn't known whether you are born with the imbalances or if the activities cause them. PS: scientific terms don't make you look smart.

Cutting isn't always a matter of control, dude. Sometimes people just need an OUT-and they may get their out by cutting. I scream into a pillow, someone else might tear up a piece of paper, someone else may cut. Yes, that could be controlled, but addiction is a powerful thing. Ask a cokehead if they feel like they control their addiction or if it controls them. BUT, cutting CAN also be caused by a hormonal imbalance. Again, people react differently. Some girls may become whiny and angsty because of hormones. And that's normal-so for some people with a chemical imbalance, cutting may be normal and may not be as controllable as you think. P.S. Well, not insulting the person at least makes her look mature. =D P.P.S. You walked into this one, poor wording choice-Next time you get the stomach flu, we'll see how easy it is to keep yourself from tossing your cookies, my dear. OP-Sucks. I have stretch marks on my thighs too, and you could never get me into a swimsuit because of them. That alone makes me applaud you.

Yeah, I meant to say you can stop yourself from MAKING YOURSELF throw up. Fail. Now I look like a moron. I understand why people do it, like I said before I used to, I just don't think it's uncontrollable. I don't look down upon people for doing it, I just look down upon those who think they have no choice.

haha, you're so unenducated! it's ridiculous to just assume there's no real proof that it's caused by a mental illness. it's your body's natural response to release endorphins which make you feel good when you are injured. so people who have stress-related mental illnesses (which have also been proven because people with these illnesses have abnormal activity in the brain/odd amounts of chemicals in the brain) cut to get this wave of endorphins and relieve the pain. before you make ignorant comments, try to actually get an education on what you're talking about.

Yeah I'm the uneducated one... There is no "cutting yourself" mental illness. It can make you feel good, yes. It makes everyone release endorphins, so no mental illness there. Yeah, some people have stress related mental illnesses... Not all choose to cut themselves to relieve the stress. Some exercise, or play sports, etc. So the cutting isn't "caused" by a mental illness, it is some people's way to deal with the mental illness. It IS a choice, and you DO have control over whether or not you do it. And yes, a lot of cutters do it solely for attention or to look cool.