How Teens Deal With...
Self Mutilation
Self Mutilation is a big thing among teenagers in our generation. Most people refer to self mutilation as "cutting" because that's exactly what most people do when trying to harm themselves. Most "cutters" cut themselves on the arms or wrist, the legs or inner thighs, and the abdomen. Most people believe that injuring oneself is just to get attention, but most people that injure themselves go to great lengths to hide their scars or cuts. It is more common for females to cut themselves to cause harm, but it isn't uncommon for males. A lot of people, mostly younger children, that have sexual urges that they think are wrong may inflict pain on their sexual organs, most of these children are younger and are victims of sexual abuse. Most people believe that inflicting pain on themselves is a way of "getting away". A lot of people may harm themselves after a devastating event such as a family member dying and using the pain of cutting to cover up the pain they feel inside about losing a family member. Cutting is not the only method of injury used, here are some others:
- Punching, hitting and scratching Choking, constricting of the airway Self-biting of hands, limbs, tongue, lips, or arms Picking at wounds Burning, including cigarette burns (as well as eraser burns) Stabbing self with wire, pins, needles, nails, staples, pens, or hair accessories Ingesting corrosive chemicals, batteries, or pins
- Self-poisoning; for example by over-dosing on medication and/or alcohol, without suicidal intent
http://www.selfharm.org/publications/sia/index.html
Here is a letter from a boy that is a cutter.
Thought I would send you these pics of me and my SI. Don’t know why. Maybe to help me get over them, maybe might stop people doing it themselves. I recently started cutting again. Had stopped, but the past year has been one of the hardest in my life and in the end I turned back to the blade. I know I’am not the worst self harmer out there. Not by a long shot. But at the end of the day, it does’t matter how deep the blade goes. Guiding the hand is a whole backlog of pain.Also included among the epics of my scratches and cuts is a picture of my knuckles. Not a terrible injury, but knuckles were squeaking afterwards for a couple of days and still are stiff to move. That came from punching a wall. Cutting is a strange thing, and the urge to go deeper is always there. And when the urge to cut kicks in, is like trying to stop a train with your body.So here are a few of my scratches and cuts. And I’m not showing them off like they are something to be proud of, I have only shown two people ever: One in real life and one on web cam - inadvertently - when he was trying to stop me cutting. Was like the time when I went down to the shops wearing a short sleeved t-shirt and had recently scratched my forearm badly. I spend so much time hiding the bastards. Might as well show them anonymously and get over it. They ain’t so bad - to the eye at least. But behind them lies mental pain that has on occasion driven me close to suicide.So a message to anyone viewing these images: If you haven’t started cutting, don’t start. It’s addictive as hell and you will reach a point where you want to stop. I did once. But look at me now: Running back to the blade at the first moment of pain. Progressively getting deeper as time goes on.
