US Girls Self-Harming, Trying Suicide at Increasing Rate

Can anyone blame them? You're messed up in the head if you aren't messed up in the head given where our society is at right now.

We live in a world where material comfort is advertised as happiness, even though it never is.

a reply to: Autorico

With what we talked about...that doesn't surprise me.
It was almost like a trophy or something.
The scars.


I can't wrap my head around it, but wish them well.

a reply to: havok

Conversations led me to think she did it for the attention it gave her from seeing it on social media.

From my understanding - SII persons do what they do when stress is so great they need a dopamine release. They cut (or harm) and get the release they need.

It was also my understanding most do all they can to keep their scars from being seen. That was then this is now - who knows. It's also reported SSI'ers almost always have an eating disorder at the same time.

Thanks for your support.

originally posted by: FredT
At work we do see alot of that kind of self harm behavior prior to a suicide attempt. That being said the self harm behavior can be ongoing for quite some time till things escalate.

Its also true that those doing some form of self harm like cutting, may not progress to suicide. BUT, if we note it as part of a secondary exam, it should be followed up for sure.

Self harm also doe snot mean mental illness as most would define. Rather in some cases it represents a means to deal with stress, it can also point to external versus internal issues leading to the behavior.

Exactly - as a means to deal with stress and LIVE, not a means to die.

Thank you for the information.

God Bless you in your work!

Well judging by all of the sexual violence and societal abuses externally and internally not shocked. Breaks my heart. I've been there. Periodically still there. I also believe that males are under reported. We are all drowning

a reply to: Indigohues

True, I have known male cutters.

This stuff is nuts. I didn't have a clue this was so prevalent:


www.slate.com...

According to a 2010 literature review article in Psychology Today, there definitely is. Dr. Leonard Sax looked at some of the most current research on self-harm—which can include burning, scratching, hair-pulling, scab-picking and other activities in addition to cutting—and found that the differences between boys and girls are clear. In a 2008 study, for example, 16.9 percent of those participated in self-harm; 24.3 percent of the girls had done it compared to only 8.4 percent of boys. Sax further argues that the reasons behind male and female self-harm are markedly distinct. The boys, he says, are often “loser” types who suffer from depression and a sense of worthlessness, while the girls, conversely, are often overachievers who seek to punish themselves for perceived failures and to deal with anxiety by manifesting a kind of perverse control.

Based on this study:

www.psychologytoday.com...

There is now evidence that for at least some of these girls, this behavior triggers a release of endogenous opiates (for a review of this evidence, please see chapter 3 of my book Girls on the Edge). Cutting delivers a weird kind of disembodied rush. "I felt like I was up on the ceiling, watching myself do it," another girl told me. "I was literally high."

They describe these self cutters when female are typically overachievers where when males were studied they appeared to be from the other end of the spectrum.

These females are described as 'getting high'. Weird.

a reply to: silo13

You see, all of us wimmins are just lost without god in our lives so that we understand that our place is subservient to men. The Bible Says So. Amen.

It's more complex than religion. Cultural and individual identity are being obliterated and I suppose religion can be an important aspect to those cultural and individual identities. It's not the only way though, Nazi German proved that. "God is dead." said Nietzche. "Long live the State" added Hitler. It worked a treat really. You don't need religion. Give people a costume and a creed and hearts and minds will follow. They will be happier because they have purpose, a sense of identity within a culture greater than themselves, and a clear sense of their place in it, individual identity.

a reply to: ClovenSky

Oh, the media is to blame as well.

My oldest step-daughter started doing this cutting crap after seeing it on "teen TV"

She is in her 20's now and admits that the thought never occurred to her until she saw it on TV.

originally posted by: redhorse
a reply to: silo13

You see, all of us wimmins are just lost without god in our lives so that we understand that our place is subservient to men. The Bible Says So. Amen.

It's more complex than religion. Cultural and individual identity are being obliterated and I suppose religion can be an important aspect to those cultural and individual identities. It's not the only way though, Nazi German proved that. "God is dead." said Nietzche. "Long live the State" added Hitler. It worked a treat really. You don't need religion. Give people a costume and a creed and hearts and minds will follow. They will be happier because they have purpose, a sense of identity within a culture greater than themselves, and a clear sense of their place in it, individual identity.

I swear you all sound like you've been ridding the same bandwagon in circles.

FYI? The bible also tells a man to love his wife like Christ loves His church, be willing to lay down his life for her and to take care of her financially or he is worse than a infidel.

And yes, I am happier having the God of the universe to 'follow' and to 'serve' - because I've got the whole game a life stacked in my favor doing so.

I feel bad for those who've allowed themselves to be blinded to the truth who think wallowing in their own self worth will get them through.

As an added note:

In the end? Yeah, in the end you will bow to the Lord and your own voice will proclaim Him so.

Why not do it while it still counts? Because then? It will be too late.

originally posted by: silo13

originally posted by: redhorse
a reply to: silo13

You see, all of us wimmins are just lost without god in our lives so that we understand that our place is subservient to men. The Bible Says So. Amen.

It's more complex than religion. Cultural and individual identity are being obliterated and I suppose religion can be an important aspect to those cultural and individual identities. It's not the only way though, Nazi German proved that. "God is dead." said Nietzche. "Long live the State" added Hitler. It worked a treat really. You don't need religion. Give people a costume and a creed and hearts and minds will follow. They will be happier because they have purpose, a sense of identity within a culture greater than themselves, and a clear sense of their place in it, individual identity.

I swear you all sound like you've been on the same bandwagon.

FYI? The bible also tells a man to love his wife like Christ loves His church, be willing to lay down his life for her and to take care of her financially or he is worse than a infidel.

And yes, I am happier having the God of the universe to 'follow' and to 'serve' - because I've got the whole game a life stacked in my favor doing so.

I feel bad for those who've been blinded to the truth who think wallowing in their own self worth will get them through.

Well then, you definitely went through a different Christian indoctrination than I did. I was told that for most of my childhood, and then I walked away.

At what age do the majority of self cutting cases start? The consensus appears to be around 12 years old or the start of the teens. I wonder if this has any relation to puberty? Could the difference between males and females be the importance placed on physical appearances? Why doesn't this usually start before then?

originally posted by: CulturalResilience
It's further confirmation that full societal reset is the only hope.

Will you describe what that means to you?

a reply to: silo13

So sad God's been taken out of schools, homes, etc. I see it as a direct reason why 'youths' are so miserable these days. Adults too.

I completely agree with you.

You can't replace a meaningful relationship with God with worship of the soulless state.

a reply to: ClovenSky

I was abused horribly by the time I was six. That's just sexually. The first time my ribs were broken was nine. The first time I tried to kill myself I was was eight. The total amount of times I've attempted suicide seriously was eleven. I'm thirty two. Total times I've flat lined was twice. Things are not neat and tidy. Some do things for attention. Some mental illness. Some are trying to exit this meat grinder early. I'm a woman and the stories I've known from men makes this report bull#. Humans, Earth is hurting. The more people talk about it and not shrug it off the closer we can get to ACTUALLY fixing this #. People are not mental these just because. Ive met people whos stories made ME cringe

a reply to: ClovenSky

These females are described as 'getting high'. Weird.

It's not quite getting 'high' but...a way to 'come down' from a high stress situation.

Say a young girl or young man are told they have to go to 'Mommy or Daddies' this weekend to comply with 'visitation rights' and the parent in question is their sexual abuser.

HUGE high stress.

There has to be an outlet.

The youth feels 'out of control' because they can't tell. They're not allowed not to go for the weekend to their abusers - and - they already KNOW what will HAPPEN when they get THERE.

So - with all the cortisol/fear/terror screaming through their system?

What counteracts it all?

A nice dose of dopamine. A nice cut or self abuse, or burn.

Then?

YOU are in CONTROL of your pain.

YOU say HOW MUCH or HOW LITTLE.

YOU are the BOSS.

The dopamine floods the system and - ahhhhhhhh, everything is 'ok' again.

But only for the moment.

But that moment in time is all the SSI'er is concerned about.

Until next time.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: silo13

So sad God's been taken out of schools, homes, etc. I see it as a direct reason why 'youths' are so miserable these days. Adults too.

I completely agree with you.

You can't replace a meaningful relationship with God with worship of the soulless state.

I wonder. . . . do we, as humans, require religion at certain stages of development?

originally posted by: DBCowboy

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: silo13

So sad God's been taken out of schools, homes, etc. I see it as a direct reason why 'youths' are so miserable these days. Adults too.

I completely agree with you.

You can't replace a meaningful relationship with God with worship of the soulless state.

I wonder. . . . do we, as humans, require religion at certain stages of development?

Well... I can tell you I 'required' it - all my life.

Doesn't mean I didn't stray and go way off the tracks - but - as an Adult Survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse? As a (former) SSI'er?

'He' was there when I was going through things no child should have to. 'He' kept me from monumental pain where I should have felt, insurmountable pain.

Later? My life would have been so much better if I stuck with my belief system in Christ.

Now? Back into where I belonged all along?

I finally have peace.

That people can't see it or feel it?

It's either 'willful ignorance' - or - they've been blinded to the truth.

To answer your question in a nut shell (and no, one one is allowed to pounce on the 'nut' part of nutshell, lol)?

It worked for me when I was little. Life didn't 'work' when I went my own way. Now that I'm back? Life is still hard, but, it's better than ever before because I have the 'Helper and Comforter' I was promised. (The Holy Spirit)...

It might sound like a foreign language to you - and that's what the devil wants.

But it's more real than anything you will EVER find - outside of Him.

originally posted by: DBCowboy

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: silo13

So sad God's been taken out of schools, homes, etc. I see it as a direct reason why 'youths' are so miserable these days. Adults too.

I completely agree with you.

You can't replace a meaningful relationship with God with worship of the soulless state.

I wonder. . . . do we, as humans, require religion at certain stages of development?

Apparently, it's genetic.

What captured Dr. Hamer's attention was a gene, called VMAT2, that controls the flow of mood-regulating chemicals called monoamines in the brain. Crucial to making the connection was a scale called "self-transcendence," which, the author writes, "provides a numerical measure of people's capacity to reach out beyond themselves -- to see everything in the world as part of one great totality."

Link

originally posted by: DBCowboy

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: silo13

So sad God's been taken out of schools, homes, etc. I see it as a direct reason why 'youths' are so miserable these days. Adults too.

I completely agree with you.

You can't replace a meaningful relationship with God with worship of the soulless state.

I wonder. . . . do we, as humans, require religion at certain stages of development?

I think we require God, but not necessarily religion. I definitely think religion benefits some people.