Cutting is considered a symptom of a serious mental health problem. The behavior has been associated with the following mental illnesses:

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD). Characterized by impulsive behavior, moodiness and problems with self-image and personal relationships. BPD is the condition most commonly associated with cutting.
  
  
• Mood disorders. Cutting may be accompanied by depression (feelings of sadness and an inability to enjoy daily life) including severe (major) depression, or bipolar disorder (which involves alternating periods of mania and depression).
  

   

• Anxiety disorders. Characterized by debilitating, disruptive fear or worry. Cutting has been reported in conjunction with diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder, with its recurrent and intrusive thoughts and behaviors, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, in which symptoms occur after a traumatic event.
  
  
• Psychosis. Involves losing touch with reality as well as impaired thought and perception. Schizophrenia is a type of psychosis that involves an inability to think logically, have normal emotional responses or behave appropriately in social situations. Cutting can accompany this type of disorder.