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 The Issue: Self-Injury
She wasn't alone. After the interview thousands of American self-injury survivors called and wrote the media in response to the interview, expressing how they too turned to self inflicted violence as a way to deal with their unhappiness. In NOISEmaker Mishie's 2002 "Self Inflicted wounds" poll, 33 out of 40 NOISEmakers admitted to harming themselves on purpose, making them part of the 1% of the population that uses physical harm as a way of dealing with overwhelming emotions and situations.
According to Focus Adolescent Services, Self injury -- a.k.a self inflicted violence, self-harm, para suicide, self abuse or self mutilation -- is the act of trying to change a mood or state by inflicting physical harm on one's body. It isn't something often talked about publicly because most self-injurers are ashamed and embarrassed by their private ritual. It's often referred to as a "girl thing," but self-injurers come in every age, gender and race. The methods vary, but can range from cutting, which is most common, to burning and hitting. If it's done for fun, body decoration, spiritual reasons, or to 'fit in' (which people actually do), it's not self-injury.  What kind of people self-harm?Self-harm isn't something fully understood by health care professionals and is very common among people who have been sexually abused as kids or suffer from an eating disorder. According to CoolNurse.com, people self-injure because they never learned appropriate ways of coping with overwhelming emotions and stress while they were growing up. So, they turn to this destructive behavior as a way to deal with more complicated personal problems. Self-injurers aren't crazy or insane. Some find it soothing. While others use it to communicate what they cannot say with words. Can self-injurers be helped? Yes! It may take a while but with the help of a professional, self-injurers can discover why they self-harm and then develop new ways of coping with their emotions. (e.g. painting or writing poetry) If you or someone you know self-injures please seek professional help. Call 1-800-DONT-CUT for more information.
 Disclaimer: Information on YOUTH NOISE is not intended as medical advice. Its intent is solely informational and educational and should not be used as a substitute for professional help. |
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http://www.vachss.com/help_text/self_injury.html
http://selfinjury.org
http://deb.arneson.net/cutstatistics.html
http://www.usanetwork.com/movies/secretcutting/res.html#stats
http://www.coolnurse.com/self-injury.htm
