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the effects of peer pressure on teenagers
the effects of peer pressure on adolescents
the effects of peer pressure on adolescents
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“Cutting Disorders: A Silent Cry for Help” Teens and young adults resort to various outlets with hopes of coping with the pressures they face. Some stress-relieving activities involve eating comforting food or watching TV. For some, however, these activities do not provide adequate stress relief, so they attempt to escape their anxieties through a recently recognized self-mutilating disorder called “cutting.” While gaining more attention in recent years, cutting is still not a well-known practice, yet an estimated 700 out of every 100,000 individuals self-mutilate (Froeschle). Even celebrities like Angelina Jolie have admitted to cutting (Mann). The best way to discourage the practice of cutting is to learn more about the disorder and encourage those who cut to find less destructive ways of coping with stress. Sadly, most people have never heard of the disorder and so do not recognize the warning signs of the practice. I was ignorant of both the disorder and the warning signs until the reality of the dangers involved hit home: I discovered my cousin was cutting. With my cousin in mind, I have noticed that the University of Georgia does not offer any specific resources for cutters. Through my cousin’s struggles, I have developed an acute awareness of cutting, who it involves, and what can be done to help its victims. My cousin’s story relates to so many American teens today. Everyone needs to be aware of how to help those with cutting disorders in their homes, campuses, and careers. Now that I reflect on the living situation my cousin Annie [1] faced several years ago, her battle with cutting no longer shocks me. While I thought at first that anyone who would harm himself or herself in such a way ... ... middle of paper ... ... Froeschle, Janet. “Just Cut It Out:” Legal and Ethical Challenges in Counseling Students Who Self-Mutilate.” Professional School Counseling. 7.4 2004. 28 Sept. 2004 . Gerrard, Nicci. “Why Are So Many Teenage Girls Cutting Themselves?” The Observer. 19 May 2002. 13 Feb. 2003 . Goetz, Kristina. “It’s Not Just A Habit But Rather A Serious Disorder.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. 28 July 2002. 13 Feb. 2003 . Mann, Denise. “When Scab-Picking, Cutting Becomes Addictive.” WebMDHealth. 2004. 28 Sept. 2004 . [1] I am using pseudonyms for all people mentioned in the paper.
1. Cut frequently talks about bulimia, anorexia, suicide, self-mutilation, substance and drug abuse, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression.
Many people in today’s society face challenges within themselves. Some challenges deal with adults paying their bills, while others involve kids and their self-esteem. In the novel Cut, by Patricia McCormick, a young teenage girl experiences just this, self-esteem trouble. According to Angela Kennedy in the article “Self-Injury on Rise,” a shocking 25 percent of people who self-injure said they started by sixth grade or younger; 60 percent by seventh or eighth grade and 12 percent in ninth grade. Inside the book, the reader views Callie’s thoughts from a first person point of view. At first, everything seems normal as Callie runs in her cross-country meet. Things escalate quickly as she runs off the track to her house where she turns to self-mutilation.
Self-harm, or also known as attempted suicide, or parasuicide, is a way to physically express emotional distress. For people who do self-harm, it is a way to cope with their problem, to distract them from the emotional pain. In simple words, it is a quick temporary band-aid for their inner wounds. After hurting themselves, people wou...
It is estimated that about two million people in the U.S. self harm. Most teenagers or young adults with women outnumbering the men. They are of all races. In recent study, over 4000 self-harming adults are hospitalized per year. 80% of those hospitalized had overdosed and 15% were hospitalized for cutting.
Why do people hurt themselves? In a journal article from the American Journal of Psychotherapy, Louise Ruberman notes that about 2.1 million teens suffer from nonsuicidal self-injury, or NSSI. Young women between the ages of 14 and 18 years old take part in NSSI due to poor development of the relationship with their mothers, childhood abuse, and psychiatric disorders. Although there are multiple ways of causing injury to oneself, cutting of the skin as a means of self-mutilation is said to be the most common (Ruberman 119). We will start out by examining the problems that occur during the relationship development between a mother and a daughter at a young age.
Suicide is one of the youth’s ways out of their problems, not only in the United States but the world. What does drive teens to suicidal thoughts and actions? What are the ways communities help prevent teenage suicide? Perhaps there are signs can be pointed out that would indicate a problem. In two surveys in 1996, both reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health, both also asked relatively the same questions of the violent actions that some people may see in life’. Surprisingly, the numbers for many of the questions were the same, such as teens who witnessed a shooting first hand; they both were about 37% (Pastore, Fisher, and Friedman 321-2). Using information such as this, one cannot blame the recent rise in teenage suicide with the violent problems of life, but more along the lines of depression caused by multiple things, for instance body image. According to many researchers, alcohol is many times a solution to a teen’s problem with life and the hardships people face in it. Many people in the United States overlook the major problem of teenage suicide; this is a mistake
There are many cases where girls and boys hurt themselves because they are insecure about themselves. They feel too ugly or too fat. These kinds of people live in depression. They do not feel good about themselves. People like this tend to harm their bodies. The fact that they become depressed makes it even worse. One good example is Bulimia nervosa. It is an eating disorder where the person eats and tries to take it back as soon as they can. This is mainly caused by lack of confidence. The person probably feels like they are fat. Many other kids cut themselves due to lack of self-love. Another good example is if you are being bullied. Being bullied really hurts feelings it makes you feel like you are not good enough. There are tons of kids who are depressed due to the fact that they are being bullied constantly. Many times kids stay like this and do not speak up because they are afraid. However they are only making it worse. They live by depression every day. Anyone can stand up and put a stop to bulling. I’m very confident that if you put an end to being bullied you’ll also put an end to the depression you suffer. Depression can influence our actions. We must love our selves. God mad us all different but we are all beautiful in our own ways. We must love our bodies and treat them as
Some ways of self harm are pinching, cutting, starving, carving, scratching, pulling, and hitting oneself (young minds). Most people that don’t really understand say that it is from attention but to be honest teens self harm to take the pain from their hearts. Some teens may self harm because it is something they have control over (young minds). Some teens self harm to make sense of the pain that is happing in their lives (self harm).
Self-mutilation is becoming more and more prevalent in society today, specifically in Western culture. In fact, reports say that it is “estimated that 3 million people in the USA choose to cut, burn or cause other types of tissue destruction to themselves” (Hicks & Hinck, p. 408, 2008). As psychologists begin to take a more in-depth look into the complexity of this behavior, discussion and analytical thought are starting to emerge. With that comes discussion and debate on functions, attributes, antecedents, and even how self-mutilation should be defined.
Her mom and her cousin, Nina, who she considers to be her role model, were the only ones that knew about the cutting. “Some people cut because they feel desperate for relief from bad feelings….Some people cut to express strong feelings of rage, sorrow, rejection, desperation, longing, or emptiness….Or their coping skills may be overpowered by emotions that are too intense. When emotions don't get expressed in a healthy way, tension can build up — sometimes to a point where it seems almost unbearable… People who cut sometimes say they feel they don't fit in or that no one understands them…..Cutting might seem like the only way to find relief or express personal pain over relationships or rejection.”, says KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health by The Nemours Foundation. All of the rejection, bullying, and verbal abuse just hurt too much. She wanted to direct the pain physically instead of mentally. Seline just wanted the voices in her head saying, “You’re ugly. You’re fat. You’re a hoe…” to be gone, even if it was for a little while. In her junior year of high school, someone who she identifies as a really good person taught her that she was a beautiful person and that she did not deserve any of the pain. After she finished her cutting phase, she began to starve herself in 2013, her wall of insecurities getting higher. When a girl develops an eating disorder, it usually means that she feels like because everything has gone so wrong in her life, she needs to find something else to control. I asked her, “Why?”, and all she could say was, “I was just a really depressed
It can often be used as a distraction from emotional distress and a way to release feelings the person has help in for so long. They often feel relief and a sense of calmness after performing the act. This is known as cutting or self-mutilation. Some forms of self-mutilation are cutting, burning, hair-pulling, pinching, scratching, picking at scars, and head-banging. People who self-mutilate often have a history of abuse, whether it be sexual, emotional, or physical. Self-mutilation often piggy backs onto other mental health problems such as eating disorders, substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and many other mental illnesses. Most people who self-harm often have low self-esteem and are perfectionists. They are often very impulsive and have poor problem-solving
Styer, Denise M. "An Understanding of Self-Injury and Suicide." Prevention Researcher Integrated Research Services, Inc., Vol. 13, Supplement. Dec. 2006: 10-12. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
Some say that the teenage years are one of the most challenging and trying times in an individual’s life. Many changes take place, both emotionally and physically, which sometimes can give the feeling of excitement… or in other cases… complete confusion and utter turmoil. Because emotions tend to run high during this period of life due to hormones, some teens resort to an unhealthy way of coping to deal with their emotional pain. This unhealthy way of dealing with emotional pain is also known as self injury. Self injury (or self harm) is widely known to take place during the teenage years up until the early years of adulthood (ages 14-24)when judgments become more defined, criticism becomes harsher, and limits are tested. The transition from childhood to adulthood may sound exciting and adventurous to some, but to others, it’s a nightmare they wish they could wake up from.
A young, teenage girl sits with her friends, talking, laughing, and making jokes. She seems completely normal and happy, even. What people don’t know is that this is nothing but a mask covering the loneliness that seems to run through her veins, and the unexplainable sadness that never goes away. She fears speaking of it, of admitting the uncontrollable hatred she feels for everything about herself, so much that she contemplates ending it all. The fact is, suicide is the third leading cause for death in people under the age of twenty-five. Our country needs to stop seeing this as a casual thing. Depression, anxiety, and suicide in youth are real and serious issues that we need to be more aware of in today’s society.