Depression Understood Forums

I've tried a couple of things like holding an ice cube, tearing apart a news paper, and a few other things but I still have the urge to cut.. My doctor keeps saying that the meds will help calm me down so I don't think like that. But in the end he just keeps up-ing how much I take. If anyone has any advice please pm or post a reply. To a 21 year old any kind of advice helps.

take up a hobby that makes you feel

If he is upping your dose, i presume he is a psychiatrist. Are you seeing a psychologist or counseling with a LCSW or MSW? Psychiatrists basically only treat with medication.

Cutting is about undelt with, overwhelming pain. That is something you can only treat by dealing with the root and learning tools to cope with and redirect the urge to cut.

For me, I have a punching bag. I put on my gloves and punch the bag until i can't anymore. I inhale and hols and release the breath as i punch the bag. I relax my mind and try to let the feelings surface and sometimes i xan and sometimes i can't. When i can, tears of anger and sadness spill across my face as i punch the bag, visualizing my pain, feeling it in every punch.

Taking up an activity that requires some amount of physical pain might help. Cutting is about bringing an internal emotional pain to the surface as a physical pain. It is a way of coping and letting off the overflow.

Getting wrist wraps and punching something that isn't too hard, like a mattress or crouch cushions might work as well. If choosing punching, take care to protect your wrists and knuckles and never punch living things or solid surfaces like walls, doors, etc. I have too many scars on my knuckles from punching walls, it damaged my hands.

It doesn't have the same release as cutting, but it can be an effective substitute. Between getting an effective substitute for the act of cutting and getting a therapist to talk through the source of the suffering that is causing the urges and getting tools to better cope, you might find it more effective than medication alone.

I hope you find a healthier release from your pain this new year.

It's scary! He's upping the meds, even though they don't work. Not long ago, they might have done brain surgery on you, the history of mental health and medicine is a dark and ugly one.
Firstly, you need to be very careful about taking advice online, or even from experts. Take everything with a pinch of salt and make sure you're making the final decision yourself.

Cutting is about two things, it's about attacking the source of your pain, and it's about exerting a level of control on an uncontrollable situation. The drive towards survival and avoidance of pain is a very strong human instinct, to overcome it is a sign something is very wrong.
You're in pain, perhaps so much pain that you can't feel it any more, you might be numb or feeling dead inside. You can only cope with so much, after then, parts of us begin to shut down. Where is the pain coming from? Whatever the source, you need to stop it. If staring at the sun hurts your eyes, you know you just need to stop looking at the sun. It's like you're just trying to wear darker and darker sunglasses, hoping it will help.
My guess is that you already know very well what's hurting you.

Good luck!