There are definitely better ways to cope. It could be a cry for help. If she is open with it--or actively showing off her scars or cuts--then it is a cry for help. "Look. I am wounded. Can you help me?" And either pride or fear might keep her from saying anything, so this is the only way she has found to express her need for help.

"Attention seeking" has a negative connotation with self-harm. But, it is still clearly an issue if someone is slicing themselves open. It shouldn't be looked down on so much, imo.

If she hides it, then it could be addiction [pain releases endorphins, which can make self-harm addictive].

Alternatively, it could be a way to punish herself for some wrong she feels she committed. Or helplessness, weakness, worthlessness: some mistakes she made.

The reasons are the same as younger people. It's just older people usually have found a better way to cope in that time. Or, they simply never experienced a high degree of pain which required coping mechanisms.

Ahh. Or. If she experiences disassociation, it could be to reaffirm her existence. "I am, because this hurts." Whoch is just a faulty thought process.

I know a woman in her 40's who cuts herself despite the fact that she sees a psychologist and takes 3 types of anti-president medication. Some people have anguish we know nothing about.

Does her age matter?
People self harm in many different ways and for many different reasons

Sometimes we can get to where we don't feel anything in life, and harming ourselves at least we feel that pain and know we are alive..just something someone told me.

It's unfortunate. Perhaps she has never learned different coping methods, or perhaps the stress she is experiencing is so strong that she resorts to more visceral methods.

There are better ways to cope, but perhaps she has not learned those ways yet. Perhaps she cannot see past her pain enough to to do something else about it. Cutting is an addiction of sorts as well, one could get very caught up in it. Speaking from experience, I was never trying to kill myself, sometimes I just needed to bleed, sometimes I needed to feel the stinging, and sometimes I just needed to destroy.

Probably used to it, or doesn't know how else to cope.

Ask her

Problems?

only thing she is used to

she hasnt discovered drugs yet

old habits die hard i guess

I don't fully understand why people do that. I've been told it's a way to give deep emotional pain a physical focus. If that's true, age would probably not matter. But clearly she needs help.

why would anyone cut themselves since there are better ways to hurt themselves sigh