Cutting and Self Injury

"Well, when I was cutting, I hated it when I got lecturing kind of attention. It was scary. I mean, down right scary. The first time anyone ever spoke to me about it is so clear in my mind. And it happened when I was in sixth grade, over seven years ago. They called me down to the guidance office and they asked me about the marks on my arms, then they just started lecturing me. Almost yelling at me about it. And the first thing I did after they let me go back to class was go to the bathroom, pull my razors out of my pocket and cut myself four or five times".

This is a comment by a young woman named Mary. It illustrates in one paragraph the complexity of this problem, which in the main effects teenagers. The higher percentage it seems are female, but it's not at all unusual for young men to be afflicted also. One common misconception is that all self injury and cutting is in order to get the attention of those around you; this is not always so. More often than not, the injuries are hidden from view, in which case it would be impossible to gain attention.

Here is a link to a site which proposes some reasons and theories as to why this situation develops and occurs. I don't agree with all of it, as I'd like to see more empirically orientated research and evidence. Nevertheless, it is food for thought and much more needs to be done to salve this very common issue.

http://eqi.org/cutting1.htm

If you know someone afflicted, or if you're afflicted yourself, please feel free to contact me. Your confidentiality is totally assured.