Help.... I caught my 9 year old daughter cutting her arm?

Question

I discovered this evening that my 9 year old daughter took a piece of broken glass and scratched her arm. I asked her why she was doing it, I got the "I don't know" . Her left arm is scratched 13 times. When I seen some of the scratches yesterday and questioned her she said it was from the cat. I believed her. Tonight she admitted to cutting her arm.

I am taking her to the doctor to see if he could help me with the situation.

What else can I do?

Answer 1

i think that there is something going on to upset her and she is going to have to tell someone so talk to her and have a counselor talk to her this could be dangerous if it is not taken care of

Answer 2

Do you trust her when she says, the other kids aren't doing it?

I'm going to let you in on something going on in school right now that is really disturbing, emo which is short for emotional, is something kids are now aspiring to be.

Its trends, like with punk how you have to have crazy hair and many piercings, emo you have to die your hair black, where dark clothing, be bisexual and cut themselves.

You need to either talk to your daughter about this, call the school, or let the school know that now, the older kids are hurting the younger ones with this trend and or pull your daughter out of school for a while.

Answer 3

i think the most important thing is just to make her feel really loved right now. You never know. maybe something really major is happening in her life that she isnt talking about, or maybe she just heard about this sort of thing and was curious.

Of course, definitely have her see a psychologist

I am in middle school so i know people who have these sorts of problems all the time and it is a really sad thing. but I have never heard of someone so young cutting themselves.

I am really sorry. best ofluck, and i will pray for your daughter.

Answer 4

Usually it is to get attention or they are going through something thy do not know how to deal with.

Just talk to her and try to figure out what is bothering her and tell her that cutting herself is not going to solve her problems in anyway. Maybe you should try spending more time with her to.

Answer 5

She needs to see a child psychologist.  She might be depressed and this is the only way she knows how to deal with it.  A professional will know how to deal with the situation in ways you do not.

Answer 6

Try Asking Her if she wants to be an EMO.Emos are always doing those things cause of pain,depression etc.Just Don't Let her be an Emo,YOU'LL REGRET!

Don't Let Her See Any Violent Movies Anymore!

Good luck!

Answer 7

Does she have a normal home life? When I was about 12 I did the same thing. I have a really screwy home life and I was kind of emotionally messed up. I can say now that I did it because sometimes my grief was so overwhelming I needed to force pain on myself because it would overshadow the grief and the pain was something I could control. I used it as a means of controlling some attribute of my life in those very out of control times. Maybe you should sit down and talk to her and try to understand where her 9 year old brain IS in fact coming from.

Answer 8

Take her to a child theropist or something. I'm in middle school and a lot of people do it. There is some sort of problem that shes not telling people, it can be stress and maybe its just a way for her to release it. You should find the problem and help her fix it. Make sure she knows its not a way to solve things

Answer 9

OMG. this is serious and as a mother you need to step up and ask her whats wrong. there could be many things wrong with her. When i was her age i felt suicidal and angry because i was being sexually abused and no one knew so talk to her help her something could be seriously wrong. Please tell her you love her and she can tell you anything.

Answer 10

Cutting releases endorphins (sorry about the spelling).  She might not really know why she does it all she know after she does it everything feels a lot better.  (endorphins when release make you feel happy).  

She may be depressed about something, and has no idea how to deal with it.  It is very common for young girls to cut.  Im not sure why.  But it does,

You need to take her to see a psychologist now.  find one that specializes in children.

good luck

Answer 11

maybe she really doesn't know why she is doing it. they don't know whats right and wrong. im sure she doesnt have any emotional problems yet. if anything get worse, do take her to a doctor and get her checked out.

Answer 12

shes 9 years old shes too young to even have a reason for this type of drastic thing.

tell her it could kill her cuz it can.

take her to a doctor

and schedule weekly appointments.

and tell her everytime she cuts herself she's hurting u.

Answer 13

wow, i have no clue.

you have to do something though, take her to a psychologist or something.

Answer 14

it is a good thing you have found her out.  i think she could use a counselor.  keep being supportive and DONT lecture her or get after her about it.  Love her and be supportive.  She might find it easier to open up to a stranger (thats what they are good at) so don't make her feel guilty about it or feel guilty about NOT telling you.  That is the last thing she needs.

I pray it will get better for her and you.

Answer 15

When I was 9 believe or not I cutt my stomach I craved my intials on my stomach! I did it for attention and i wanted a tatoo. I really did it to make my dad mad

Answer 16

cuttin yourself doesnt necessarily mean tht you have emo problems... however at age 9 i dnt even kno wat to tell you. maybe she was curious about pain or sumthin. i cut 3 letters into my leg but tht was jus cause i wanted to see how much pain i could take and how it would heal

Answer 17

well for one don't make too big of a deal out of it, I had an emo acquaintence and when that happened to him it got worse, just try to make her have fun

BTW she prolly does know and isn't telling you, talk to her more, trying sharing some of your own secrets so she'll share some of hers

Answer 18

real cutters cut for a few reasons

one- because their emotional pain is so intense that the physical pain from cutting provides a temporary diversion from it

two - they feel nothing inside at all, and the pain that cutting causes lets them know that they can still feel something

Take her to a good counselor....there are alternative ways that kids can learn how to deal with whatever it is that they are dealing with

Answer 19

I'm not a doc but it's good you are going to see one. Kids do d**n stuff. I used to eat mud pies, parents got the pic to prove it. Maybe watching to much tv, no pain watching someone else doing it.

Your on the right track seeing the doc. Keep your head up.

Answer 20

put a camara in her room and watch her... then you really need to sit down with her and talk. if not take her to a crazy person center and show her what could happen to her. it should scare her to understand that it is not good.

Answer 21

probably because she knows older kids sometimes do that and she thinks it's a sign of maturity. either way, it's a cry for attention.

cutting is definitely a reality and her friends don't have to do it for her to know about it. a friend's older brother or sister could have done it and the little sibling found out and told your child. your child quite possibly saw it on T.V.- that stuff is on all kinds of channels. shows for young teens, older teens, and adults. she sees that the kids who cut themselves are becoming the center of attention on that t.v. show, and everyone is comforting that person, hugging that person, trying to talk to that person.

definitely spend more time with her, give her compliments, tell her you love her every chance you get. arrange to do special things with her. if she wants to be older, let her explore pretending to do so....but in a different way.

i suggest a new hair cut of her choice, or if she doesn't have her ears pierced, let her. the two of you could go shopping for "p*****n" clothes...etc.

what you shouldn't do, however, is quickly become defensive and assume you know how she feels. kids are better at hiding emotions than you may realize. automatically deciding she has all the attention she'd ever want or need is a little bit ahead of yourself. kids do a LOT for attention, so instead of blocking out answers you don't like, really listen to your daughter and what the doctor has to say. because i guarantee you, he will mention attention needs.

Answer 22

It's not because she's 9, it's because she's self-mutilating. Sometimes young girls do this for attention, they're need to be noticed. Other times, there are serious psychological reasons behind their actions. I suggest to err on the side of caution. It's a good idea that you're taking her to the doctor, because this could be a sign of a much bigger problem. People who self-mutilate often do it out of extreme self-hatred or because of depression. They don't do it to commit suicide, but rather do it to help deal with some sort of immense pain. Getting her help immediately will definitely be a plus in the longterm for her.

Answer 23

def take her to the hospital and maybe some therapy. of course if its to the point where she is cutting herself she will not want to open up to you but she has to talk to someone.

Answer 24

Get her help.. I did all kinds of things when I was that age that my parents would brush off and I think you should get her help.. some of it really could just be curiosity and fascination... BUT there is no exuse playing a guessing game and she needs to be evaluated.

Answer 25

This behavior is known as self-harm.  It means that she is not able to feel her emotions or get in touch with them.  She is doing it because she is actually able to "feel" something by feeling pain.  This is very serious and she needs love and support.  She is psychologically wounded. You need to bring her to see someone right away a social worker would be best because we tend to be less clinical and labeling than some of the psychological community.

Answer 26

im so sorry for this situation. maybe she saw it on tv or her friends were talking about it. she probably feels presurredf to do it. also she wouldnt admitt if her frinds were doing it, beleive me. i think you should tell her that she can be herself and she doesnt have to listen to anyone but her teacher and you. hope this helps.!!!

Answer 27

Talk to her about emo and stereotypes and how it's not worth it and she's going to regret it later in life. If you care, she doesn't have a reason to cut herself. Usually, they do it out of self-pity or self-disappointment and they think they need to punish themselves.

Answer 28

she is probably lying to cover up some of her friends.

Maybe something was wrong at one time and she started cutting and kept doing it because it makes her feel powerful that she can control her own body and make it bleed when she so chooses.

It may be hard but the best step would to consult a therapist or someone else who could help because it could only get worse otherwise

Answer 29

You should try taking her to a phycologist. Most people who cut themselves do it because they are upset that no one listens to them or pays attention to them. Take her to a phycologist and tell him/her what she has done. They should be able to help

Answer 30

This happens to Everybody due to Depression or Boredom.

You should take her to fun places,    make her life enjoyable instead of leaving it all on her shoulders.

She's too young to take care of all this on her own,

you have to make her life the best it can be or she will get worse in a few years.

Eventually she will join sum satanic groups and dedicate her life to them.   You have to make it all worthwhile,   shes doing it because she's depressed or bored.

If its problems at school,  you can only make it worse but wait and see how much furthur it goes.

Answer 31

Bring her to the Doctor and ask for her advice. Maybe you could make sure that everything is ok with her social life, or that its because of her family. Don't get mad at her, either.