by Writerbob

Created on: February 21, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

Cutting. An innocuous term, unless applied to a decidedly negative phenomenon that has emerged over the last ten years. As unbelievable as it sounds, teen age girls are engaged in acts of self-mutilation - cutting their skin with knives or razor blades. "Why" is an obvious yet ineffective question to ask when attempting to understand; rather, "what happened" might be more appropriate. Ascertaining the reason for these acts of self-mutilation would at least allow us to triage our efforts, for with some young women this may merely be a superficial attempt at gaining attention, while for others it may be a symptom of a more profound mental disorder or being done as a reaction to some type of abuse.

I was a teacher for several years, and I am also now the parent of a seventeen year old girl. While this certainly doesn't qualify me as a learned expert, I have been confronted with three specific cases of teen age girls who were cutting themselves, and in the process of referring these people for professional counseling, I relied upon the advice of those who have training and experience to deal with these situations.

I learned that there is no categorical answer for the cutting dysfunction, that in its more serious manifestations it is a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder, wherein the person may get no pleasure from the activity but feels as though there is no escape from it. These are the cases which require intervention of a medical type: removal at least temporarily from the environment where the behavior occurs, therapy and/or medication as prescribed by a licensed professional.

I have heard the various reasons given for cutting, that the pain of it "cancels out" the psychic pain that the person is feeling, or that it allows one who feels powerless some form of control over a life that otherwise is overwhelming. These thin layered excuses are seen to be insubstantial because the behavior is never truly secret except in the most serious types of the cases covered prior, in which case there is a serious mental illness manifesting. The typical "cutter" makes sure all of her friends know about her destructive behavior, swear these allies to secrecy against the unwitting parents, and then use this as a trump card threat whenever they feel ignored.

The reasons why the behavior starts is irrelevant to the prognosis - treatment plan. This is the level that most well-meaning people get stuck at who want to help, but who are not properly trained to do so. They validate,

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