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After a fight with her boyfriend, 17-year-old Andrea Garrison sliced her legs over and over with a razor.

“I was so angry I was slashing, slashing, slashing, slashing,” explains Andrea.

She was only 12 when she cut herself for the first time.

“I took out a razor and went back to my room,” she says, “laid on my floor in shorts and a t-shirt and I started cutting, up and down my legs.”

According to a new survey in the journal Pediatrics, 17 percent of college students admit they have cut, burned, or punched themselves on purpose.

“Those are huge numbers,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Paul Schenk. “And while hopefully those numbers may reflect people who did it once or twice and said, ‘No, this isn’t for me,’ even the fact that [as] many as a percentage would experiment with it is scary.”

Why? Why would so many kids hurt themselves on purpose?

“It’s painful,” says Andrea, “but it’s good. It feels good to me.”

Experts say teens that are sad or depressed may use cutting as a way to relieve emotional pain.

“In addictive behavior, one of the things that you get is the build-up of the anticipation,” says Dr. Schenk. “And in the moment they do it, the engagement in that behavior produces an endorphin release in the brain like a runner’s high.”

He says parents who discover their teen is cutting should try not to wince at the physical wounds.

“Instead of going, ‘you did what?’” says Dr. Schenk, “think about saying, ‘I imagine you were a lot of pain that you would try to do something about it. You must have really been hurting emotionally’, and focus on your ache for the person. See what you can do to deal with being compassionate first about the catalyst for the cutting, before you move on to trying to fix it.”

Next, he says, seek professional help.

The research shows that kids who repeatedly cut themselves are six times more likely to attempt suicide and twice as likely to report signs of an eating disorder.

“The more tools we have for coping,” says Dr. Schenk, “the less likely we are to use something that is destructive. And many of these teens who cut seem to be teens who don’t have a good enough ‘tool box’ yet.”

Andrea knows she hurts her family when she cuts herself. She wants to stop.

“There’s a certain feeling you get,” says Andrea, “when your mom’s helping you put Neosporin on the cuts you put on your own body.”

What We Need To Know

• Parents should learn to recognize the warning signs of self-injurious behavior. They include consistently wearing long pants or sleeves in the summer, constant use of wrist bands, unwillingness to participate in activities which require less body coverage (swimming or gym class), unexplainable possession of razor blades or other cutting instruments, frequent bandages, and anxiety or depression. When asked about their wounds, individuals who self-injure often give an excuse that seems implausible. (Cornell University)
• When asking kids about their injuries, it’s important to sound non-threatening. (Cornell University)
• Often, loved ones do not ask about a person’s injuries because they do not know how to broach the subject. However, individuals who self-injure need others to show concern for their well-being. Persistent but neutral probing may eventually elicit an honest response. (Cornell University)
• Do not express that it’s shocking or “crazy” for someone to injure himself or herself. This can make self-injurious behavior worse. (Dr. Paul Schenk, Psy.D., clinical psychologist)
• Often people who cut end up hurting themselves more seriously than intended. Make sure kids understand that it is easy to cut through an important artery or tendon. However, it is not enough to counsel teens on the physical injuries. It’s most important to seek professional help for the emotional triggers that lead teens to cut. (Dr. Paul Schenk, Psy.D., clinical psychologist)

Resources

• Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior, Family Life Development Center, Cornell University
• Pediatrics, Self-Injurious Behaviors in a College Population
• Developmental Psychology, The Virtual Cutting Edge – The Internet and Adolescent Self Injury
• S.A.F.E Alternatives, (Self Abuse Finally Ends) Self Abuse Treatment Facility

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