The Los Angeles Times (5/23, Roan) “Booster Shots” blog reported that recent research, as well as experience treating patients, “is altering the way experts view cutting, according to information presented last week at” the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting. “Previously, self-mutilation — which can include cutting, scratching or burning — was considered a possible sign that a patient may be at higher risk of suicide.”
Now, however, research indicates that self-mutilation or cutting behaviors may “help the individual vent feelings of anxiety, stress, pressure or anger, according to the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents and Young Adults.”
Related Links:
- “Cutting and other self-mutilation practices aren’t suicide attempts, experts say,” Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2011.