Editor's note: Because of the sensitive nature of this story, the names of the teens interviewed have been withheld.

Today is Self-Injury Awareness Day. Self-injury continues to be a growing problem across the globe, particularly among teenagers. What causes people to burn, cut or otherwise mutilate themselves? Several area students discussed why they started self-injuring and what made them stop.

"The whole reason I started cutting was for self-punishment," said one teen. "I felt worthless, and I would guilt myself all the time. I started getting into bad drugs like cocaine."

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"I was laying in bed and someone had called and made me really mad. I just realized, 'What's the point of listening to these people anymore and letting them get to me?'" he said.

For this teen, confiding in a friend helped him stop cutting. "I would usually call a friend and talk to them or go over to their house. I have a really close friend who knew about [what I was doing], and he said he'd do anything to help me. He let me come over whenever I needed to, and that was his way of helping me.

"People need to learn that there are ways out of it [cutting] and other ways to deal with problems," he said.

Another teen who used to cut said she began because "I was depressed and I didn't like life. My dad was abusive, and I had really low self-worth."

"Everything was happening at once," she continued. "My great grandma died, and my boyfriend broke up with me. I felt like cutting was the only way to get rid of the pain. I also started smoking weed and cigarettes, but the pain, no matter what, was still there.

"I finally quit because I realized it was pointless, and I wasn't getting anything out of it at all," she said. "Life is going to go on no matter what, and cutting isn't going to help it any."

Family played a big role in her recovery, she said, and friends even more so.

"My family kind of came back together, and my friends snapped me back into real life. They showed me that I don't really need to do that because it's not worth it. It all kind of happened pretty quickly."

She said she relied primarily on her friends to help her recover. She didn't seek any professional help because she felt that it wouldn't have been beneficial to her.

"You don't feel like you're going to get enough support from them because they're like every other doctor - they're seeing several other people at the same time; they're just doing their job," she explained.

With her friends, though, they all worked together to help each other overcome their problems. "We kind of felt like we needed to get help and to try to help other people who did it," she said, adding that her friends have been what has kept her strong and kept her from returning to self-injury.

"[Cutting] really isn't worth it," she stressed.

The next teen who spoke about her experience is a best friend of the previous teen. The two helped each other get through their self-injuring ways.

Today is Self-Injury Awareness Day. Self-injury continues to be a growing problem across the globe, particularly among teenagers. What causes people to burn, cut or otherwise mutilate themselves? Several area students discussed why they started self-injuring and what made them stop.

"The whole reason I started cutting was for self-punishment," said one teen. "I felt worthless, and I would guilt myself all the time. I started getting into bad drugs like cocaine."

He no longer cuts because he said he has realized "that people aren't worth it." A simple phone call led him to this realization.

"I was laying in bed and someone had called and made me really mad. I just realized, 'What's the point of listening to these people anymore and letting them get to me?'" he said.

For this teen, confiding in a friend helped him stop cutting. "I would usually call a friend and talk to them or go over to their house. I have a really close friend who knew about [what I was doing], and he said he'd do anything to help me. He let me come over whenever I needed to, and that was his way of helping me.

"People need to learn that there are ways out of it [cutting] and other ways to deal with problems," he said.

Another teen who used to cut said she began because "I was depressed and I didn't like life. My dad was abusive, and I had really low self-worth."

"Everything was happening at once," she continued. "My great grandma died, and my boyfriend broke up with me. I felt like cutting was the only way to get rid of the pain. I also started smoking weed and cigarettes, but the pain, no matter what, was still there.

"I finally quit because I realized it was pointless, and I wasn't getting anything out of it at all," she said. "Life is going to go on no matter what, and cutting isn't going to help it any."

Family played a big role in her recovery, she said, and friends even more so.

"My family kind of came back together, and my friends snapped me back into real life. They showed me that I don't really need to do that because it's not worth it. It all kind of happened pretty quickly."

She said she relied primarily on her friends to help her recover. She didn't seek any professional help because she felt that it wouldn't have been beneficial to her.

"You don't feel like you're going to get enough support from them because they're like every other doctor - they're seeing several other people at the same time; they're just doing their job," she explained.

With her friends, though, they all worked together to help each other overcome their problems. "We kind of felt like we needed to get help and to try to help other people who did it," she said, adding that her friends have been what has kept her strong and kept her from returning to self-injury.

"[Cutting] really isn't worth it," she stressed.

The next teen who spoke about her experience is a best friend of the previous teen. The two helped each other get through their self-injuring ways.

"I started to cut because of my mom. We fought all time," she said. "I had really low self-worth and hated the way I looked.

"Sometimes, things would come back in my mind from the past - stuff about how my parents used to fight - and they would haunt me. It would be all I could think about all the time."

"Finally I realized doing it was stupid, along with smoking weed and cigarettes. I knew it wouldn't get me anywhere. My friends helped me quit, and I helped them - like a big support group," she concluded.

For other teens who might be in a situation similar to hers, she suggested, "Tell your friends about it and let them help you. And whatever is causing your problems, try to solve that and face those problems."

She said she hasn't thought about cutting herself again since she stopped, but she has a plan should those thoughts ever return. "I still think cutting's stupid, but if I would think about it, then I'd just sit there and blast my music."

The last teen, who has been cutting herself for more than four years, hasn't been able to completely stop.

"I started back in 2003 after my grandma died because after we lost her, we lost our whole family. Everyone started disowning each other and stopped talking to each other, so cutting was a way for me to release that stress.

"I stopped back in August of 2003 because I met someone who has become a really close friend, but something happened and I started again. Once again, I used it as a way to release stress.

"For me, injuring myself was my way of talking about my problems," she explained. "I didn't have anyone to talk to, and it was like my arm was a journal and the knives were my writing tools.

"After awhile it became an addiction," she admitted. "I was looking for any reason just to cut. I started wearing long-sleeve shirts in the summer to hide my cuts and became really depressed.

"I have been cutting for four years, and I don't know when it will ever stop. It's like a drug; once you start you just want more and more."

Currently, she has stopped cutting. As with the other teens interviewed for this article, she is not seeking any professional help for her problem. She said that when she feels the need to cut, she tries to block those urges by writing journal and blog entries.

"It was a way to numb the pain," she said of cutting, "but it stops working after a while and you're left with all of these scars from the past."

When asked why she continued to cut if she felt it was no longer helping her, she said, "I continued to do it because it became an addiction and a habit. It was like my drug."

All of these teens tried to use cutting, as well as drugs and alcohol, to get rid of their pain and found that it didn't help. They realized that no matter what they did to themselves, it wouldn't help the situation they were in.

If you cut and need help stopping, talk to friends, trusted adults or a therapist. They might help you more than you think.

There are also many Web sites that offer support for those recovering from or trying to stop self-injuring. Some of these include teencutter.com, selfinjuryhelp.com and sisupport.org. If you are feeling the need to self-injure, you can also call 1-800-DONTCUT, a national self-injury hot line.