Statistics on teen cutting are hard to come by because so few studies have been done on the subject. In 2002, the British Medical Journal published an article that found 13 percent of British 15- and 16-year-olds purposely injured themselves. In the United States, best estimates indicate that one in every 200 girls between 13 and 19 years old, or one-half of one percent, cut themselves regularly. Those who cut comprise about 70 percent of teen girls who self -injure.
What Is Cutting or Self-Injury?
When an individual intentionally or purposely harms onesself by making scratches or cuts on his or her body, this behavior is called “cutting.” Cutting is one form of self-injury. Some people in the medical and mental health fields also include eating disorders as a form of self-injury.
Individuals who cut themselves on their wrists, arms, legs or bellies are often labeled as “cutters.” Cutting is not the only form of self-injury. Some individuals self-injure by burning their skin with the end of a cigarette or fire from a match.
Cutting and other forms of self-injury is becoming more and more popular in our society; this is especially true among teenage girls.
Kinds of Self-Injury
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Branding: Burning self with hot oject
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Skin Picking: Tearing or picking skin until there’s a wound
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Hair Pulling: Pulling hair from scalp
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Hitting: Punching self to cause bruises.
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Piercing: Polking self with needles.
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Chemical Burns: Drinking or using chemicals to burn self.
What Self-Injury is NOT
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Self-injury is not a bad attempt at suicide.
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Self-injury is not body art or body modification.
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Self injury is NOT just about getting attention.
ScottCounseling.com offers parents free online counseling services to answer all your parenting questions.
For further information, read: Why do individuals cut or self-injure?
cutting/she/needs/help
I am a mother of a 14 girl she is starting to cut the top of her fourarm , back part! she is seeing a specialist but I don’t know what I can do for her! Nobody thinks of the parent and what it does to them! some times that’s how I feal! I want my daughter to be ok but her behaivers are very hard to deal with!!!! How do I get her to STOP it????????
where can a person get help?
im a teenager..an uhmm… and i am a cutter.. i dont know how to stop!
i cut i just got done cutin dont no y its so bad to do it cuz it makes me feel good inside
and im 12 i started win i was 6
Teenagers should never acquire the poor behavior of self cutting and self injury. It may dangerous for life. According to the survey it was concluded that 13 percent of teens and adolescents deliberately do self injury. The self injurious behavior arises due to the depression, stress or grief. Such troubled teens need more attention and moral support to overcome cutting nature. Parents can get valuable tips and suggestions from certified counselors to motivate under pressure children.
To the mothers out there, this is a hard thing to deal with. I have cut for almost 5 years and every time my mother finds out, it kills her. I don’t know how she deals with it but I know that with a child that cuts, sometimes all we want is someone to talk to, someone to care, someone to see that we need help. Teen years suck and can be very hard. No book, specialist, or website will ever tell you why it’s so hard because we all have our own problems. Cutting is addicting and as a 16 year old, I know that getting over an addiction like this is one of the hardest things to do.