Self-cutting is a major problem for adolescents. Self-cutting is really a cry for help. Statistics show that one in four teens admit to cutting.(Lundsten 1) The website teenhelp.com reported that one in two-hundred girls between the ages 13 and 19 cut themselves regularly. Many adolescents seek self-cutting as a way to heal from pain. Max Malikow stated that, psychiatrist, A. Favazza research began when he became “intrigued by the possibility that some forms of self-mutilation represent an attempt at self-healing (Malikow 46). Cutters purposely harm themselves to make them feel better. Self-cutters do not realize the damage they can cause to themselves by cutting. The reason adolescents seek self-cutting rather than talking to a counselor is because they are afraid to talk and feel like no one understands them. Self-cutting is not just a temporary pain-reliever; it is a psychological disorder. Many self-cutters believe that it is nothing wrong with it as long as they are not harming themselves. Lundsten stated that, Roberta Mirisch, a licensed clinical social worker, explained that “cutting is not a normal behavior but cutters think if it makes them feel good, what’s wrong with them doing it?” Self- cutting is a serious and growing problem.
Adolescents cut, because they see what others are doing to cope with pain. Many people believe that the teens do it for attention or as a trend. In 2011, Lundsten stated an alarming new trend; there were teens posting videos on YouTube showing images of cutting and other forms of self-harm. Experts feared that the videos could be dangerous, specifically to vulnerable teens. The videos often were “how-to” videos; showing other teens how to cut. The videos invited who had not considered cuttin...
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Rao, R. (2006). Wounding to heal: The role of the body in self-cutting. Qualitative Research In Psychology, 3(1), 45-58. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp053oa
Perroud, N., Dieben, K., Nicastro, R., Muscionico, M., & Huguelet, P. (2012). Functions and timescale of self-cutting in participants suffering from borderline personality disorder. Journal Of Personality Disorders, 26(2), 267-279. doi:10.1521/pedi.2012.26.2.267
Benbow, M., & Deacon, M. (2011). Helping people who self-harm to care for their wounds. Mental Health Practice, 14(6), 28-31.
LUNDSTEN, A. (2011). Cutting edge. Girls' Life, 17(6), 80.
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.
The main argument in this article is that there needs to be more ways to help people that are suicidal. The main point of this article is that they want to people to be more aware of how to help someone, and it is also full of information. The topics that are covered in the article are the issues at hand, the background with suicide in teens, and the next step that society needs to take. This article is about helping people that are suicidal and how to help them and let us know the next step that we need to take.
Murphy, E., Kapur, N., Webb, R., & Cooper, J. (2011). Risk assessment following self-harm: comparison of mental health nurses and psychiatrists. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 67(1), 127-139. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05484.x
The term borderline personality disorder (BPD) was termed by Adolph Stern in the 1930s to describe a group of people on a “borderline” between neurosis and psychosis (SITE). Today, BPD is described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as “a pervasive patt...
Joseph Connelly Gazzola used to be a Northeastern University football star. He has since taken his own life, and it has hit everyone he knew very hard.
A mother finds her 17 year old teenage son hanging from the rafters of their basement. To hear of this occurrence is not rare in society today. Every 90 minutes a teenager in this country commits suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. The National suicide rate has increased 78% between 1952 and 1992. The rate for 15-19 year olds rose from two per 100,000 to 12.9, more than 600 percent. (Special report, Killing the Pain, Rae Coulli)
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.
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
To get down to a serious level, self-harm isn’t something people should be doing. And for people who don’t, don’t look down upon people who do. For those of you who think cutting is a way to try to get attention, open your eyes. Think about how many people you personally know have talked about how they were cutting themselves the other night. Not very many I can imagine. That’s because people do, do it as a release from the pain that they are dealing with in life. They feel that the pain other people put them through is worse than self-inflicted pain. Isn’t that a terrible thought? They try to hide it from friends and family to not be a bother or attract attention to themselves. So, next time you see someone putting another person down, don’t ignore it and step in. You never know that you may be saving someone’s life.
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
"Self-Harm Among Teenage Girls Up 10 Per Cent In Year." Times, The (United Kingdom) (2013): 16. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
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.
Teen suicide as an extremely complex tragedy, that unfortunately happens all the time throughout the United States. There are friends, parents, and peers that are facing the misfortune of losing a young, close, loved one to suicide. Most people don't realize that adolescent suicide is common. They don't want to believe how often this occurs in the secure environment found in the small towns of America, as well as in its largest cities.