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Why does it feel good hurting myself?

28 Answers
Last Updated: 02/22/2021 at 5:26pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
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Lisa Groesz, PhD

Psychologist

With evidenced based therapies, we find the root of the problem together to implement solutions. We all face crises, transitions, or disorders at some time.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
November 11th, 2015 2:28am
Hurting yourself releases neurotransmitters called endorphines aka natural opiates. These chemicals are your natural painkillers and give you a sort of rush- just like the drug opium; that's why it feels so good.
Anonymous
June 22nd, 2015 1:19am
From my own experience, I started cutting when I couldn't hardly think or breath because of the immense emotional and mental pain I was feeling. At the time it wasn't about suicide. It was about feeling something real, reminding myself I was alive.
Anonymous
April 12th, 2015 12:55am
It makes you feel like you have some sort of control over your own pain, and over how you deal with whats going on in your life.
Anonymous
November 8th, 2016 3:09am
It makes me forget about my emotions for a while. I only focus on the Pain. Its calming and the blood and All consumes your mind so there's No room left for your problems.
spectacularBeauty75
March 5th, 2015 7:08pm
Hurting yourself provides you with a level of control in physical pain. It is usually done when you are unable to control the emotional or situational events in your life.
generousFireworks70
November 24th, 2015 12:49pm
The answer to that question only you can answer it. But since i know that not what you want to know,heres something that might help. yes its all true, the chemical released when you harm yourself makes you feel good. But thats not why you do it. you do it because u feel like you have lost control over everything you are empowered of. but that blade, it makes u feel in control, in control of the pain, in control of how deep u go or how much blood is bursting out from your skin. you feel like u want to be in control of something, so why not of pain when endorphins makes u feel powerful and eligible to do anything, but all you can think of doing is keep on cutting.
ClaireyMarie
July 20th, 2015 7:50am
I find when I hurt myself it makes me stop thinking about the things that are hurting me mentally, which in lots of ways hurt way more than anything physical. But it isn't good to hurt yourself. I have tried to stop, and have found talking about the things that bother me work just as well. And it is a lot healthier.
aleexxx
March 5th, 2015 3:34pm
There's no answer t this question as everyone is different, but from experience I know that a lot of people find it relieving and use it as a way to calm down.
Anonymous
June 17th, 2015 11:04pm
When people self harm, endorphins are release from the brain into the body, making you feel better. When those endorphins leave, you'll feel worse than when you started.
Anonymous
April 10th, 2017 1:34pm
We feel "good" because we are numb, we feel nothing and hurting ourselves reminds us that we still feel pain both physically and emotionally.
Anonymous
October 26th, 2015 9:32pm
because your mind is telling you it does and the reason you think it feels good is because its something you do to help push away the pain inside.
KatHellsing
November 19th, 2015 1:43pm
There are many answers to this question. When you're hurt, the body releases natural chemicals that help relieve emotional pain: such as endorphin's, adrenaline, dopamine, exc. It can also make you feel good because it's like a distraction; for that moment you aren't thinking about what's wrong and making you feel that way. You may also feel that you deserve the pain it causes; if you feel like you're a bad person or something. Any, if not all, of those can be the reason why it feels really good. But that's not a good way to cope. There are other ways to get the good feeling that doesn't involve hurting yourself. Just look it up or ask someone for alternatives. Stay strong!
maya1997
December 9th, 2019 2:08am
Because when you physically hurt yourself you focus on the physical pain and that makes you forget the emotional hell that you live in , I'm not encouraging people to do so but for some including myself , it makes you forget for a second about your fears and traumas and its better than actually killing yourself. And no matter what physical pain is always less painful that emotional pain and this is why many people tend to do it , this is why me and you and a lot of others do it. In simple words , to escape reality
Anonymous
August 18th, 2015 6:50am
Hurting yourself may feel good because it's the only coping skill you know and to you, it may seem like a positive coping skill. Which self harm is never a positive coping skill. If you self harm, you need to seek help and/or find a positive coping skill.
Anonymous
September 21st, 2015 8:17am
Because when you hurt yourself a chemical called endorphins are release which are the "feel good" chemicals of the body
peacefulBubbles40
February 12th, 2019 4:29pm
It feels good hurting oneself at time when your mental pain goes on to another level when it becomes hard to get over it and nothing but self- harm remains the option available to many of us. It feels good hurting oneself at those times because we get a physical pain which kind of distracts our mind and makes the mental pain bearable. And it at times , becomes pleasing as compared to the mental messed up state and we go on doing it more and more until it gets to another level. Self-harm, we should know, may feel good but there are better recovery methods to go through pain that we are going through.
LivLaughLove
December 1st, 2015 6:38pm
I have done this before and it may not "feel good" but it may be a way of punishing yourself for something you think you did. In your mind you think you deserve this but in your heart you know its not good for you physically or emotionally. Talk it out! Honestly, it's not easy to get over on your own. Talk to a listener or write a song or poem. These things help me the most. Writing or drawing in general is a good way to detox. Help yourself to the services provided by 7 cups.
Anonymous
May 29th, 2015 6:01pm
You might have an immense guilt factor or self hatred. You may want to see someone about that because self harm could turn into a very unhealthy obsession
Anonymous
April 16th, 2018 3:38pm
because when we harm ourselves our brains release endorphins there for giving us a feeling of pleasure
Anonymous
December 5th, 2017 4:19pm
because it feels good to focus of physical pain rather than the mental pain or stress that we might be under. Sometimes it can also feel good as it can be perceived as maintaining control over your body to cope with stress. However respecting and loving yourself are also alternative routes to get through potential problems
Adrijawithyou
February 22nd, 2021 5:26pm
If you look closely at the reason why you are hurting yourself, it will be quite clear. What you sense as "feel good" is not actually a good sensation. People resort to self-harm usually when they are going through some mental stress or a mental health issue that is too difficult for them to deal with. At that point, they would rather experience physical pain than having to deal with the immense mental pain. The mental pain, at least for a few minutes gets dissolved in the storm of physical pain. You get some other point to focus on than the issue at hand. So, you feel like you "feel good" while, actually, it is just taking your mind off the issue at hand for sometime, which is, not a healthy way to deal with the situation.
Anonymous
November 18th, 2019 5:52pm
It can provide a mental release from the world and help you calm down since it is a coping strategy. A negative coping strategy, yes, but it helps to free the mind and get rid of unwanted emotions nonetheless. It may feel good while you’re doing it, but it can have damaging long term effects that may cause you to only do it more to get rid of the regret and pain that comes with it. I recommend looking at some more positive coping strategies, specifically physical ones, since self-harm is a negative physical coping strategy, and it’s easier to transition to positive coping strategies when it’s the same type as the negative strategy you’re trying to replace.
Ashiya
February 7th, 2017 7:18am
It feels good hurting yourself because you're paining yourself into existence, personally I'd imagine it as relieving mental pain out through the physical wound. This is not easy to stop at all.
Anonymous
October 18th, 2016 4:07am
It's actually the physical pain dominates over the mental so you tend to give priority to the physical and it gives a good feeling.
wonderousShoulder94
June 13th, 2016 7:36am
everything in life is based on personal preference. you possibly like pain but pain is not a good thing. don't beat yourself up too much its not healthy
Anonymous
November 3rd, 2015 5:05pm
When we are in pain the body produces natural painkillers to help us cope. When some people self harm the rush of these chemicals feels good
Anonymous
October 29th, 2015 7:36pm
When you hurt yourself, your body releases endorphin which is what makes it addicting and feeling good. After a certain amount of time, your mind will get used to it and think it's a good thing and sometimes even that you need it when you don't.
Anonymous
October 26th, 2020 11:09pm
Honestly, it can be all about control and feeling something in general. It feels good to hurt yourself because it is pain that you can control and because of the fact that it means that you are feeling something. When everything else in the world is out of control and you feel like you can not handle anything else, that is something that you can control. It can be good to feel something when you are feeling hopeless or numb to everything else and so hurting yourself makes you feel good because you are feeling something, anything at all.