I am tempted to cut almost as soon as I feel bad about something to do with myself. Its like its the only thing that cheers me up, would that make it an addiction like smoking or drinking? Could I tackle it the same way? Also I am in Therapy so I am getting help for the reasons behind it
Addiction is a psychologically learned behavior, not a characteristic of a process, so cutting can definitely become an addiction. Cutting wouldn't necessarily be handled in the exact same way as alcoholism or smoking, but the ideas of slowing ridding oneself of the temptation are often the same. Though since you are in therapy already, it would probably be best to be as honest with them as possible and listen to the advice they give.
Gen's right that treating cutting isn't quite the same as treating another addiction, but it is nonetheless coming from the same place; all of those behaviors (alcohol, drugs, weed, cutting, overeating, over-exercising, workaholism) are numbing behaviors, things that keep us from thinking about stuff that is upsetting or bothersome. So you can develop tools and techniques to deal with the desire to do the self-destructive behavior, but you can't effectively solve the issue problem you deal with the underlying issue that's driving the desire to numb in the first place. It's good that you're in therapy. The more open and honest you can be with your therapist about all that's going on, the better.
I imagine cutting "works" by triggering the release of endorphins in your brain. When you feel stressed, classical conditioning leads you to desire making that endorphin release happen again. Soon enough, you'll develop a tolerance, or "get used to it", and have to cut deeper and more frequently for it to work. That's just my layman's hypothesis as to what happens, but I'm fairly sure it's accurate.
Cutting is definitely an addiction for me that I may battle the rest of my life. Every time I am down I am tempted to cut. One thing that has helped me is that I realize the cutting never helps the problem. So I am telling myself that I am strong enough to face whatever I go through on my own without that crutch. I actually think about the pain instead of ignoring it. I relapse every couple of months but that is better than relapsing every week so I guess that is progress. It is a tough addiction to break. "hugs"
