Posted by Elizabeth on March 15, 2000, at 23:44:04
In reply to Re: noa - self injury, posted by Cynthia on March 15, 2000, at 10:54:12
> I thought I was alone in this. I have cut myself severaltimes, always on my left wrist , alwayst with something dull so I would have to push hard, and just enough to see the blood , over and over and over. So I have these faint scars and everyone, even the Psych think it has something to do with suicide but I am never suicidal when it happens just in a rage episode. I have never heard anyone talk about it before. I thought I was just really really weird. Thanks for the info.
There really are a lot of people who suffer from repetitive self-injury, especially (but not exclusively) young women. Actually I have a hard time believing there aren't any support groups out there for this. (Are there?)
On the other hand, as Vesper has discovered, you have to be careful. I was in group therapy for a while, and several times people were triggered to commit "parasuicidal" acts when others discussed their own self-harming. This could be a lot worse in a support group, where there's no therapist to talk to if you're feeling unsafe.
BTW I think it goes way beyond things like cutting, burning, and head-banging -- I've known people to do things like get into auto accidents, take drug overdoses, and get into unhealthy relationships.
Nobody was ever really able to explain to me why they did it (in a way that made sense to me, anyway), but it seems like there's often some sort of dissociation involved. Does that conform to people's experiences?
poster:Elizabeth
thread:26764
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000312/msgs/27166.html