Essay On Self Injurious Behavior

Self-mutilation is the act of physically hurting oneself. Most people wouldn't want to do that, but some people do because it makes them feel good. Even though they may feel good while doing so, they're often unhappy afterwards. The act of self–mutilation has increased over recent years. In the United States at least two million people are self-injurers (Davis, Jeannie Lerche.) The majority of those people are girls aged thirteen to twenty-four. There may be more reported incidents today because more pressure is put on people at a younger age (Pomere, Jonas.) Self – injurious behavior (SIB) has lasted a long time. Religions sometimes mention SIB. Selfmutilation is similar but not quite in the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. In the Old Testament SIB is often associated with false religions. While in the New Testaments God decreed it against his law to scar, tattoo, pierce,or etcetera yourself. The First Corinthians also thought it was wrong to harm your body because it belonged to Christ. Overall in the Bible SIB is often frowned upon (What does the Bible say about self-mutilation / cutting?.) Another religion that is connected to self-injury is is Sunni culture, which is part of Islam. On the Day of Ashura people mourn the death of Huseynibn Ali, who was the grandson of Muhammad. The Day of Ashura is the climax of the Remembrance of Muhurram, but not the month. Originally the day of Ashura was a Jewish holiday, but they aren't very similar. To mourn Ali they cut their scalps and have a bloody parade (Watcher.) Over time self-mutilation has existed in other ways. An early example was in 496-406 BC and took place in Ancient Greece. In a play by Sephorles the character Oedipus stabs himself in the eye. Hippocrates had a theory that you could be cleansed or rebalanced by cutting from 460-370 BC. Hippocrates was a Greek scholar. The years 200 BC – 200 AD was the Indian Epic period. In that period there was a myth that Lord Krishna made the world so beautiful that his disciple Soordas cut out both of his eyes to preserve the beauty of the world. The books of Matthew and Mark say a man should tear out his eyes instead of looking at a women with lust instead of going to Gehenna (hell.) Those were some pieces of self-mutilation through early history (Timofeyev, Alexander V.) There are more recent moments in history where self-mutilation is mentioned. The first reported case of self-mutilation was in 1886, a grieving widow ripped out her eyes without cutting into them. The famous Italian impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear lobe in 1888. He reportedly sent it to a prostitute named Rachel because of her name. In the Bible it was said that Rachel “grieved for her children.” Karl Menniger said in 1938 that self-mutilation would help someone avoid suicide by only doing it slightly. During the 1960s the Bangwa tribe in Africa discontinued the practice of SIB. SIB was supposed to represent social status and to enhance beauty. The book Bodies Under Siege was presented b Favazzu and Rosathae in 1990. The book was very widely accepted. After that there weren't any other very significant moments about SIB yet (Timofeyev, Alexander V.) There are different forms and levels of SIB. The three levels of self-injury are major (amputation and castration), stereotypic (biting and head banging), and superficial/moderate (cutting and burning.) Cutting is the most common form of self-mutilation (Pomere, Jonas.) After cutting some people pick at the wounds while they heal. A more serious form of cutting is when people start to embed objects in their wounds. Embedded objects in the skin is a sign of more serious behavior. Objects that may be embedded are needles and paper clips (Roan, Shari.) The New York serial killer and cannibal Albert Fish was a self-embedder. It was found that he had about twelve needles in his groin area after electrocution. Fish also had a history of mental illnesses (Wikipedia.) Pulling out hair is also SIB, it's officially known as trichotillomania. This may also be a sign of obsessive compulsive disorder. Burning , biting and hitting yourself is also self-injurious behavior (Pomere, Jonas.) Many people disagree on

wether excessive piercings and tattoos are a way to rebellion, expression, or a more underlying problem (Self-Injury in Adolescents and Pomere, Jonas.) People self-injure for a variety of reasons. Many self-injurers have a history of eating, drinking, or drug problems. There may also be more of an underlying cause which therapy may help uncover (Self-Injury in Adolescents.) However some teens do it just to try it or for religious purposes. Abused children have a greater risk of SIB. Female adults may have more reported cases of SIB because society puts a lot of pressure on women's bodies which causes them to think negatively. Boys who self-injure could do it because they don't have a proper outlet for their emotions since they were taught to not talk about their emotions (Pomere, Jonas.) The ability to take risks or to rebel against parents/society can be a cause (Self-Injury in Adolescents.) No matter the reason SIB is dangerous. The seriousness of self-injury is being undermined by its glamorization due to underground subcultures. These subcultures are goth and emo (emotional.) Both are supposed to represent not conforming to more widely accepted labels, such as preps and jocks. In emo people usually generalize it with slitting their wrists, whining about lost love, writing sad poems, and songs. Overall it is very self-pitying. Goths seem to hate everyone outside of their little groups. In both these groups black is a primary color. They cut to externalize the pain they feel inside (Pomere, Jonas.) Some may show off their cuts which is unusual for those who cut and others may feel pressured to cut to fit in. Other people make jokes about cutting because of these cultures such as “I wish my grass was emo, so it would cut itself,” this makes SIB seem like just a passing thing. This could cause those with actual problems to go under further. Cutting is a disease like compulsive gambling and kleptomania. Kleptomania is the compulsive urge to steal things. It becomes addictive after a while since the brain begins tor release beta endorphins, which creates the feeling of happiness. Control and Power could give someone even more reason to selfinjure (Pomere, Jonas.) If the body has a really traumatic experience the mind seperates it and closes it off (Dutton, Amber.) “It's a way of feeling something in the presence of nothing,” says Janice Whitlock who works at Cornell University (Roan, Shari.) Self-injurers may have an existing problem like depression, or are very sensitive, overachievers, or perfectionists (Davis, Jeanie Lerche.) After SIB people often feel guilty or ashamed. Some self-injurers don't tell people because they don't want to admit to themselves yet that they're actually doing it and telling someone would seem too final (Dutton, Amber.) The internet is a useful new invention, but it has it's dangers. Teens who feel rejected by their school may turn to the internet. An overweight child could be so sick of picked on she could search anorexia in a search engine. There she would be able to find pro-anorexia (pro-ana) sites and may develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders are usually followed by cutting. Yahoo and AOL have been working to shut down sites like that, but it can still be found in chat rooms since they're harder to monitor. There is also a game called the choking game which could be considered SIB. In March 2000 14 year old Joel Evans died from the game and the same as about 1000 other children each year. When people play this game they cut off oxygen to the brain to get a drug like high. Most people don't learn about deaths from this game because they're often deaths of minors, and families feel more comfortable keeping the information secured (Fischer, Mary A.) What may start as nothing can become very serious. There are many ways of coping so if someone doesn't want to tell anyone they can try, but it's much more helpful to open up to someone. The internet can also be very helpful, since there is a variety of websites. Self Abuse Finally Ends (SAFE) has a 30day treatment program where patients sign a contract saying they won't self-injure. At the program they

don't have anything taken away from them so they feel empowered knowing that people believe they can make better choices. After patients have been released 75% of them have stopped or decreased selfinjuring themselves. Finding out what makes you self-injure is also a way to cope. Getting help will ultimately make self-injurers feel better (Davis, Jeanie Lerche.)