It's a hard question to answer as it's different for everyone; considering how young you still are, try thinking of this way, the more you Self-harm yourself the harder it's going to be to wear things that you want to wear like dresses, bikinis, things that show skin; also it'll be harder to get a job if bosses can see you have marks all over yourself from harming; granted yes you can wear long sleeve clothes but some jobs don't allow that and in the summer time it's extremely uncomfortable to wear long sleeves all the time.
Try to make yourself see that you are not worthy of hurting yourself; you're better than that; you deserve to be free of injuries and pain; you can also see a professional so that they can give you better suggestions and advice on why you should want to stop hurting yourself.

But the thing is - i've self harmed years, so my cutting, at times, got a little out of hand. Some needed stitches. So there's no way on earth i'd ever be able to show off areas of skin were the scars are bad. So i can't even bribe myself with 'stop so you can wear nice/cool clothes when it's hot'. And because i'm so used to covering up the heat doesn't bother me anymore. I have family who live in spain and i've visited them on a few occasions, still fully covering up the hole time, even though it was hot over there, even then it didn't bother me.

I've also been seeing mental health professionals since i was 11 and nothing has helped me.

hmm that makes it much more complicated; in the end u have to find a reason to stop doing it; perhaps telling yourself that one day u might just cut too deeply and it'll be too late to get help. I had a friend who was within a cpl of centimeters of cutting deep enough to kill herself instantly.

I've been told that a million times. Especially by the latest psychiatrist and therapist i've been seeing. Even that doesn't bother me. I mean, i'm not suicidal, but i don't really care if i die either. I'm caution of going too deep now anyway, after needing stitches for it when i was younger. I test everything i use first, to see how sharp it is. Then apply appropriate pressure for how sharp it is.

No matter how hard i try to find a reason to stop, i can't.

I'm out of advice then; hopefully someone else can give u some tips for ppl who can't seem to get themselves to stop.

Thanks for your replies though :)

Hi Jellybean. I started cutting at about the same age as you, and cut until I was 21.

One of the largest things that helped me to stop was seeing there is a larger world beyond me. I had a miscarriage while in a bad relationship and decided the guy wasn't worth my pain.
I hope you never go through this.

One thing I'd suggest is spending your time helping others to get beyond the focus of harming yourself.
Volunteer at an animal shelter, read to smaller children, or allow your scars to heal long enough to donate blood, etc.

I found giving to others (willingly) helped me to realize the value of my existence.
Hope this helps.

I've tried helping others too. From rescuing animals from bad homes, giving to the homeless, and i booked an appointment to give blood on the 6th december (though my life got a bit hectic, i moved 2 and a half hours away from the town and home i'd always lived in) so had to cancel. My names down for all my organs to be donated when i die. I'm growing my hair to donate to cancer patients. I have done things like race for life too (sponsered walk/jog/run to raise money for those with cancer)

Nothing seems to help me sort out my shit. I feel so helpless about my self harm.

when i first started self injuring bt strangling myself when i was 10 and then stopped and then again at 12 and then stopped.....then at age 14 i cut and then stopped and then at 16 i strangled myself again and then stopped b/c i almost killed myself-i didn't want to-and then started cutting at age 18 and now i'm struggling with that.....i don't think you can MAKE yourself want to stop.....i knew what i was doing was bad, but i didn't want to stop.....eventually i DID want to stop b/c i realized what i was doing to my friends and family, but the urges were too strong and i kept on giving in......as tiem went on i WANTED to stop, i just wasn't sure how.....i've been to 2 outpatient/Partial Hospitalization Prograsm-PHP-and in those programs i leanred otehr ways to cope.....i've been inpatient 6 times in the past 2 years......i've learned how to stop, but sometimesi still need help......i'm going to weekly therapy for cutting as well as other issues.....my point with all of this is that I eventaully wanted to stop.....something that may help you is making a list of pros and cons of cutting and not cutting.....like i said, i don;t think you can MAKE yourself want to stop, but if you can find other ways to release to stress and stuff you can be healthy....if you ever wana talk, i'm here

There must be a part of you that wants to stop your here. I don't cut anymore. I am not suicidal, but there are times I get overwhelmed and I don't care if I kill myself. Thankfully that doesn't happen often. I need to stop all SI because it has become much too dangerous. I've been hurting myself for a long time. There are worse things than killing yourself. I've ended up in ICU a number of times. One time I had 12 pints of blood. I've developed quite a few chronic conditions because of abusing my body. I've had two amputations because of scratches that got infected, my right leg and all the toes on my left foot. I don't know if I will ever walk again. I've had two bouts of MSSA with a week of IV antibiotics in ICU. I won't bore you with the rest. They say you will be ready to change when you reach your bottom. I truely hope your bottom is not as low as mine. I wish you well. You are young and have many experiences ahead of you.