Teen Self-injury on the Rise

Once prevalent mostly among teens with mental health issues, even kids in stable families with excellent grades are cutting themselves in what appears to be a desperate bid to unburden themselves of emotional stress, the Montreal Gazette¹ reported.

“Some people refer to it as the new anorexia,” said Dr. Nancy Heath², a professor of educational psychology at McGill University, whose research has helped to uncover this disturbing phenomenon.

“There is really no doubt that it is exploding in the community at large – in middle schools, high schools and beyond,” said Massachusetts psychologist Barent Walsh³. “. . . I am now seeing very capable, competent young people who are excelling in school, have friends, come from relatively stable families, and yet they self-injure⁴.”

Experts believe that despite the physical pain, the cutting and subsequent bloodletting give teens a temporary release from unbearable feelings of tension and confusion, and help them to think more clearly.

Non-suicidal self-injury is “indicative of an internal problem,” said Dallas-based clinician Wendy Lader. “They are having trouble dealing with their emotions.”