How common is cutting (self-injury) among pre-teens and teens?

i would take my child to an excorcist

Unfortunately it is becoming more and more common. Cutting is an addiction that is done when the sufferer is angry or suffering with great anxiety or stress. The cutting releases feel good brain chemicals called Endorphins. A person who cuts has never had the opportunity to learn how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way. It requires professional help to learn how to stop it and learn the healthy skills to deal with emotions.

If there were signs that my child was cutting I would immediately schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist. It can be dangerous because they don't know where the large arteries are and can bleed to death accidentally. It also causes scars that will last a lifetime and have to be explained which would be extremely embarrassing.

Many parents are ashamed or feel that it isn't anybody else's business and don't talk about it. But some do.

I know many people that have done it, mostly teenagers at that age just looking for a release... My friends have done it as teenagers and I've known adults but only girls as adults that have done it. It appears to be quite popular among asian girls. I don't know if it is from society or what. I was brought into it by a friend that did drugs. I just felt it as a release like blood-letting hundreds of years ago. I guess the feeling, biologically speaking is because when you release blood, the body makes new, fresher blood. In a sense, it is a detoxification and they don't realize it as such. When you go to donate blood, your body generates new blood. You feel that if you are in tune to your body. I guess this is where the feeling comes from. Even if that is the case, it is not good for you because of the methods generally used to do it - a razor. You don't know if it is clean. If it is clean, then it is much less harmless than getting scratched by a rock or tree or something. If it is dirty, then you may get a bad blood disease. Out of all the people that I have known to do this, they have never developed a disease. I guess their razors were clean. I don't know.

I'm 17 years old and a christian teen. Back when from when I was in the 5th grade to 7th grade, I used to do self mutilation. I had a hard time coping with certain things and that's how I handled it. I don't go to church, however, but my brother is a preacher and I told him and his wife one year about it. They were worried about me and said I needed to see a counsoler. I never did though. I just grew out of it and found other things to do when things get rough. I mean, now that I think about it, the whole thing is a bit blurry. I can't remember much on it. I just know I did it to control my hurt and anger. My brother didn't take it well, neither did my sister in law. They didn't really do anything to help, really. They tried to get me to move in with them, but my mom wouldn't let that happen. They did let me start coming up to their house a lot more during weekends and vacation breaks. See, they live like 2 hours away from here, so I don't get to see them much. But it didn't help. Not really. But I grew out of it and I realized that it was a stupid way of handling things. But that's pretty much my expierence.

More than you would imagine. I knew a large portion of my friends were self-mutilators. Older generations still find the subject taboo, and the majority that cut (the majority which are not looking for attention because it is not normally for attention) are ashamed and refuse to talk about it when referring to themselves. If my child was cutting I would have to sit down for a civil conversation with NO yelling or blaming (really anything that may get them into an emotional state where they want to cut or overreacting). Actually sit and talk to them, if they do not want to talk to you as a parent, help them find a therapist they can open up to do not force one on them as different therapists use different techniques and give off different vibes and putting a child with someone they do not like is counterproductive. Also take them to the GP, make sure they are up-to-date on their shots (particularly the tetanus booster).

Too common!

"Why Do I Hurt Myself?"

- A Diverse Profile

> “A Mechanism to Cope With Stress”

http://watchtower.org/e/200601a/article_01.htm

"How Can I Stop Hurting Myself?'

> The Value of Confiding

- The Importance of Prayer

> Helping A Self-Injuror

- When Additional Assistance Is Needed

- Two Things to Think About http://watchtower.org/e/200602a/article_01.htm

According to what I've read, self mutilation (all acts of self-harm including cutting, burning, bruising, etc.) affects about 1% of the general U.S. population, but up to 10% of teenagers have tried it at one point or another.

Of teenagers who do self harm, over half (64%) use cutting as their method. Girls are between 2 and 4x more likely to do it than boys, and my interpretation of that is because self-harm is classed as an anxiety behavior, and women are much more likely to experience anxiety disorders than men... and unlike mood and other mental health disorders, anxiety disorders usually start to rear their ugly heads during the teenage years. Coincidence, huh?

Studies have also connected self-injury with a history of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse (in a study of two Ivy league schools with stunningly high levels of self injury, over half who were anonymously surveyed said they had been previously abused). It has also been linked to eating disorders and suicide attempts, even though the self-mutilating act is not usually a suicide attempt. Also, most self injurers come from middle or upper class white households.

To be clear, there is a wide chasm between teens who cut as part of some kind of fad or "for attention", and people who are doing so as an inward, self-destructive release of anxiety and anger, the two emotions most frequently cited as being associated with self-injurious behavior. It's like the difference between someone who goes out and gets trashed at parties, versus a closeted alcoholic. They may both be abusing alcohol, but the ways in which they do it are obviously different and for different reasons.

While it may seem like most cutters are doing it for attention, that isn't true either. Statistics show that between 90 and 95% of teens who self injure are suffering with a diagnosable mental illness. That is not a minority, that is a huge majority, and those people deserve to be helped and not stigmatized.

I started cutting when I was 14, and while I have not cut myself since 2005, the desire to engage in the behavior is still strong sometimes, like when I am really stressed out or experiencing a depressive cycle. Not all cutters are attention seeking teenage girls, is the point, and in fact of the adult population that cuts, it is estimated that up to 80% are women who started self-injuring in their teen years and never stopped. It becomes an addiction the way drugs or alcohol are, because it alters your brain chemistry (releases endorphins) and your brain craves that release, just the way it craves a line of coke or a shot of liquor.

I pray to God my children never self harm. I hope that by being a more open, emotionally available, and supportive mother than my mother was to me, I will be able to give my children the emotional outlet they need so they won't get to the point where self-harming is a viable option for them.

Hope that helps.

I've only seen one kid actually do it.

Middle school.. he did it during lunch.

Most of the kids ran off puking practically.

I just stood and stared wondering why he did it.

He was laughing.. it was for attention and he has friends.. so he was not lonely, depressed or feeling alone.

Now I'm in high school, and I am sure if the depressed teens do it they don't tell.. The ones who don't tell probably have problems..

but the ones who brag and tell people either don't do it at all or do it for attention.

personally i think the statistics are wrong, there are alot of teens and preteens that cut, but many do it for attention and dont stick with it.If my child was cutting, i would treat him/her the way i want to be treated when i decide to tell someone. Many teens do cut to try and fit in to a certain criteria for being "emo". Most of them have no real issuse. Those who cut for serious reasons tend to hide it.

Dear FL Sunshine, Cutting is common only for kids who do cut. They are kids who are very depressed and the only way to get their feelings out is to cut. They usually keep very quiet and to themselves. Sometimes parents don't even know.

People do talk about it. If my child was cutting, I would get him or her some serious, serious help so that they could live a good life.

We teens refer to it as 'emo', but the real term for it is self mutilation. Teens either do it for attention or because the pain feels good. Having been corrupted by video games, domestic violence, rape, etc, and everything that's made our world so much more ****** up, I guess they find cutting themselves their only escape. Don't judge them, just find immediate help and make sure they're okay, because cutting's the first step to suicide.