Cutting oneself is pretty much what it sounds like–taking a blade or other sharp object and cutting one’s own skin on any part of one’s body until it bleeds. Although cutting is the most common form of self-injurious behavior, self-injury can include burning oneself with a lighted cigarette or match, biting, banging one’s head, punching oneself or pulling out one’s own hair (trichotillomania). People who injure themselves in these ways are typically between 13-15 years of age and female, although cutting can go on for years unnoticed by others. Some boys exhibit self-injurious behaviors as well. Here is some information that can help you to better understand self-injury:
- Cutting is a coping mechanism, granted an unhealthy one, that helps people to handle intense feelings of upset or pressure.
- The brain releases endorphins when the body is cut. These endorphins provide pain relief and a sense of well-being, thus relieving psychological pain.
- Because of the release of endorphins, cutting can become a compulsive behavior. The next time emotions are at a high, the brain craves the relief that the endorphins provide.
- People who cut themselves tend to be people without the skills to express these strong feelings in more healthy ways. They need to learn self-soothing methods that are not injurious.
- People who cut themselves sometimes also suffer from other mental health issues such as bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, eating disorders or other challenges, though this is not always the case.
- Many teens who cut themselves tend to be very good at hiding their self-injury. They may wear long sleeves to hide scars, explain away any cuts that are observed or even share tips on how to hide their self-injury, such as this example from 43 Things.
- You cannot make someone who cuts herself stop. Lecturing, begging, rejecting……none of these strategies will work. Instead, you can offer your support by letting your friend know that she deserves to be healthy and happy and that you are willing to help her find the assistance she needs.
- Remember heroin chic? This was a fashion style of the mid-90s that made models look as if they were heroin addicts (thus drawing protests from anti-drug groups and even then-President Bill Clinton). Some people who were not heroin addicts still tried to achieve this look, for example through self-starvation. Unfortunately, cutting has an analogous element of boundary-crossing chic for some teenagers who try cutting themselves as a way to appear edgy and cool.
- If you know someone who cuts herself, don’t decide for yourself whether the cutting is an effort to be cool or a cry for help. Take cutting as a sign of underlying emotional troubles that need to be addressed.
- If you are a parent to a teenager who cuts herself, find her a therapist that she likes and trusts. Be prepared for the possibility that your entire family may be asked to participate in family therapy. In family therapy, the family is seen as a system that needs to work together–all members of the family are expected to be part of the therapy process.
Having a child or friend who cuts herself can be a frightening experience. However don’t let your own fear or denial get in the way of an opportunity to help. The person who cuts herself is in pain and needs to express that pain in ways that are not self-injurious. Cutting oneself is a severe enough symptom to merit mental health help as soon as possible.
In pointing out the problem of cutting, the Bible also points out the solution to be delivered from cutting. That solution is to call on the name of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved from Satan’s influence. It’s only the anointing of the true and living God that can break this spiritual yoke over an individual’s life.
“…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10
I felt this article was important to bring to everyone’s attention. Cutting has been going on for years and is kept silent by many that are doing it. One of my daughters has been doing it for years off and on. It breaks my heart. She has been diagnosed with Bi-polar and is in counseling. What I don’t grasp is why with all the help that is suppose to be out there how so many are just over looked and that mental illness is not taken more seriously. It seems for years doctors just want to write a prescription and call it good. Rather it is someone cutting, Bi-polar, Schizophrenia they didn’t ask for this to happen to them. The daily struggles they can endure. We need to stop over looking them and putting a stigma on them when they are Gods children and DESERVE to be heard and get the help they long for and deserve!
Our daughter longs for the help and gets frustrated because her counselor will tell her to call when the need to cut becomes overwhelming. Well she did call and he didn’t return her call. I am very frustrated with the system. They are get funds and even though they don’t get the funds that are really needed. I believe they need to do a better job. Loving my daughter, listening even when I don’t understand is what I will continue to do but to judge her and put a stigma on her is what I refuse to do. Prayer is what I continue to do that God will heal her heart and give her the peace but most of all for her to reach out to our Lord because anything is possible through him.
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