how do you help someone realize they do not deserve the pain they cause themselves?
I dont know if you can stop a cutter... I know you think they dont deserve the pain they cause themselves, but sometimes that pain is what gets them through whatever emotional pain they are feeling... And it seems (to the cutter) that you dont care about their emotional pain, you just dont want to see cuts or bleeding... Its complicated when a person cuts... its not as simple as "you deserve better than this life you're leading", so stop... you have to understand why they cut... And sometimes they think they deserve the punishment...
No cutting is never the right option, but try and understand where they are coming from, and try and get them help from people who have been trained to deal with these issues...
You can be there, and be supportive, but dont take it personally when they do what the do... cutters are really just trying to cope and survive...
Cutters are not suicidal maniacs! Cutter dont want to die ! Thats a fact otherwise they would not be full of scars from previous attempts. Cutters are lonely or just feel pretty low and have low self esteem. They just want to be noticed and taken care of its a cry for help.
I have worked with many people who cut themselves religously, we know they dont want to kill themselves its an escape for them, often they feel that they are bad! and so they think if they bleed themselves the bad will come out of their body through the blood. Some times they use any sharp instrument to cut with and ofen are left with jagged unclean nasty cuts that become infected. You know the NHS give heroin addicts new needles to inject with, well they also give cutter new blades to cut with! This is for their benefit, to prevent AIDS, Hepatitis and serious infections
You need to let the person who's hurting themself know that there are people out there that care about them,including you, offer to take them to a therapist or to a counselor,then see what you can accomplish.
I dont think you really can...people who cut usually know that they shouldnt be doing this to themselves and feel terrible so be careful with what you say to them as it may make them do it more.