Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self- Mutilation???

redjade

redjade

Padawan Learner
"Cutting casts an eye on the emotional pains behind a dark adolesscent practice"
-Salon

Cutting takes the reader through the psychological experience of the person who seeks relief from mental anguish
in self- inflicted physical pain. Author Steven Levenkron traces the components that predispose the personality of self-
mutilation: genetics, family experience, childhood trauma, and parental behavior.

Written for self-mutilatiors, parents, friends, and therapist, this book explains why the disorder manifests in self-
harming behaviors and most of all, describes how self-mutilatiors can be helped.

Title: Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self- Mutilation

Author: Steven Levenkron

His other book: Anatomy of Anorexia
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What is you thought about this topic?
 
My sister has self-mutilated on several occasions in the past. I don't know much about this topic, except through what she has told me. Basically she said that mutilating herself made her feel so much better, and the pain experienced in the moment, felt good. The act of self-mutilation is like punishing oneself, which can feel wonderful for someone who suffers from self-hate, as my sister does. Childhood trauma has without question played an enormous role in the way she is today (she was bullied terribly at school), and she is still very much feeling the effects of it. However, now the main concern for us (her family) is not self-mutilation but suicide. The feelings that create both acts have a lot in common, self-hatred being but one of them.
 
I wonder if there are other ways of self mutilation. When I was a teenager I was very depressed for reasons I am not going to disclose here, but I remember I got in the habit of picking on my pimples, so bad that my face was in serious jeapordy. Now, I have psoriasis... and the itching causes me to pick on my skin all the time. I have read much about it, and I know it is an autoimmune condition, which affects not only skin and nails but bone joints as well (for me knees, wrists and heals). I have wondered since I came in contact with past live theories and other such ideas, and since I have read about possible psychosomatic roots for psoriasis, whether there is also a karmatic cause to this, or whether a soul or spirit attachment might be also a the root of the problem. The result either way is the same, slowly but surely you are self-mutilating, and with it comes guilt and shame. I know the C's have said not to focus on the body but on the soul. To me that is all fine and well, but when you are seriously bothered by your body, it takes time and energy away from the soul. THIS BOTHERS ME.
 
Third_Density_Resident said:
My sister has self-mutilated on several occasions in the past. I don't know much about this topic, except through what she has told me. Basically she said that mutilating herself made her feel so much better, and the pain experienced in the moment, felt good. The act of self-mutilation is like punishing oneself, which can feel wonderful for someone who suffers from self-hate, as my sister does. Childhood trauma has without question played an enormous role in the way she is today (she was bullied terribly at school), and she is still very much feeling the effects of it. However, now the main concern for us (her family) is not self-mutilation but suicide. The feelings that create both acts have a lot in common, self-hatred being but one of them.
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Did she get hit growing up by the parents or before she started cutting herself did she start going on wierd diets? I think that 1 of the big things about a self-mutilatior is the environment that person is in. I was reading Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self- Mutilation, the case stories in that book really stood out for me. Couple of them read how self-mutilatiors had to deal with narcissistic parents, but how he/she handle even tho his/her emotions over power her reality. He/She went into a trance like state, and start cutting at herself.

Alot of self-mutilatiors find it hard to come out with they're problems. Mainly because alot of people don't know or know very little about this topic and judge quickly by calling self-mutilatiors "freaks" or thinking they want to kill themselves. But there is a different over killing yourself and just wanting relief but cutting. And you know what is weird is that alot of therapists in the U.S do not know how to help a self-mutilatior, because it is a topic that not alot people talk about and have experience with.
 
Realmhiker said:
I wonder if there are other ways of self mutilation. When I was a teenager I was very depressed for reasons I am not going to disclose here, but I remember I got in the habit of picking on my pimples, so bad that my face was in serious jeapordy. Now, I have psoriasis... and the itching causes me to pick on my skin all the time. I have read much about it, and I know it is an autoimmune condition, which affects not only skin and nails but bone joints as well (for me knees, wrists and heals). I have wondered since I came in contact with past live theories and other such ideas, and since I have read about possible psychosomatic roots for psoriasis, whether there is also a karmatic cause to this, or whether a soul or spirit attachment might be also a the root of the problem. The result either way is the same, slowly but surely you are self-mutilating, and with it comes guilt and shame. I know the C's have said not to focus on the body but on the soul. To me that is all fine and well, but when you are seriously bothered by your body, it takes time and energy away from the soul. THIS BOTHERS ME.
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Even tho it is he/she body they are hurt, wouldn't it be the soul as well? I mean self-hate by cutting, isn't that self mutilatior hiding from they're real emotion and reality. I think so. It is probably not karmatic cause, have you research or read any book on this topic?
 
redjade said:
Even tho it is he/she body they are hurt, wouldn't it be the soul as well? I mean self-hate by cutting, isn't that self mutilatior hiding from they're real emotion and reality. I think so. It is probably not karmatic cause, have you research or read any book on this topic?
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I think you are on to something. I have read several books on psychology, phisiology, medicine, pathology etc... but I don't know, no one is clear about this, or doesn't seem to know enough about this.

I am a psoriatic person, and tried all the prescriptions and methods dermatolgists suggested. My experience is that these were either quick fixes or just symptom stoppers. I am not interested in that. I want to go to the root cause. I went to a chiropractor, who does "holistic" medicine. Her FIXES, in retrospect were at best, guesses; and what she was able to control in one area created a whole new set of problems in other areas.

It is not that I don't want to get better; trust me, I do. It is not fun living with a skin that is relentless in multiplicating itself, and peeling, and the itching, and the bleeding, and the pain in the joints; and futher more the embarrasing effect of having your clothes covered dandruff looking scales, and people staring at you and wondering whether I have is contagious. I don't wish this existance even to the Lizzies.

In all the literature I've read, no one really knows how to cure psoriasis. The most recent research focuses on trigger events, and suggests that increased stress, and psychological damage are trigger events for psoriasis. A psoriatic person carries this program within his or her DNA. Then, it is an event in life, such as trauma, stress, environment change, and lack of certain nutrients that might trigger it. Maybe it is already written in the DNA when in life this person will begin to experience the first outburst of Psoriasis.

In my case, I have gone from simple scales on my head to ramdom spots all over my body, to pits in the finger nails, to painful joint problems. For example, I can't run, even on a tredmill. I can walk, up to a point, and then, the pain starts. So, after years of reading, and trying traditional to non traditional doctors, I am inclined to believe that my problem might have an entire different source, and that yes, in some sense my soul might be damaged, or it has an attachment that wants it damaged. There is plenty of family history of painful situations, and wrong doings. Many of them created by culture and even religion. Disinformation, ignorance, superstition, etc...

Various forms of selfhating has been a pattern in my life, though I never cut myself on purpose, or anything quite that dramatic. My patterns were more subtle, and unplanned, or rather subconscious. I know I need to find that source and deal with it if I want to make progress in it's journey to the light. It is already more than 10 years since the psoriasis first appeared. The pimples had dissapear at that time, and I suppose that old form of self mutilation had to be replaced by another. Like I said before, it bothers me personally and it BOTHERS me more that so much time, effort, money and energy has been spent on this issue, rather than an on the things I could really contribute with the life that was given to me to this world.
 
Realmhiker said:
Like I said before, it bothers me personally and it BOTHERS me more that so much time, effort, money and energy has been spent on this issue, rather than an on the things I could really contribute with the life that was given to me to this world.
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Since it is suggested that psoriasis is an auto-immune disorder, perhaps you ought to look into the blood type diet? I have arthritis which is considered to be a sort of auto-immune thing and I can really tell a difference when I eat foods that are not on my "list."

I have also heard that colonics are very helpful as well as this: http://www.curezone.com/cleanse/enema/ I know people who have tried the coffee therapy and swear that it was a miracle.
 
Laura said:
Since it is suggested that psoriasis is an auto-immune disorder, perhaps you ought to look into the blood type diet? I have arthritis which is considered to be a sort of auto-immune thing and I can really tell a difference when I eat foods that are not on my "list."

I have also heard that colonics are very helpful as well as this: http://www.curezone.com/cleanse/enema/ I know people who have tried the coffee therapy and swear that it was a miracle.
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Hey Laura, thank you for the tips. I will certainly look into this. When you say blood type diet, you mean that for whatever blood type recardless of its letter and polarity, there is a diet. See, I didn't know that... HAHAHA. Anyway, about colon cleansers, I thought of that before, because I had read about Candidiasis, and how this could also be a trigger for psoriasis. My chiropactor did some testing on me and thought, I didn't have candida yeast overgrowth. I suppose there are other ways of testing that. I think you might be onto something both about the blood and the colon cleansing because I thought of it before. Now, about coffee, I was practically born and raised in a coffee farm. I gave up coffee around the time I began to experience psoriasis. My chiropractor had discouraged me from taking it back again, because of potential liver damage. Now, I began to question all her methods, because for every action there is a reaction, and really not a lot of what she did for me worked. I have not been back to see her since the first of January.

The good thing is, thanks to you I can go back and do more reading about the three techniques you mentioned, and tha gives me hope. Eventually I can decide on a procedure and maybe I willl take care of this once and for all.

I had even considered hypnotherapy, but in my area it's very hard to find anyone trustworthy to say the least. Anyway. Thank you.
 
I went on a one week fast early this year and at this retreat I was educated about raw food. One of the lectures concerned osteo arthritis and how milk can actually be the cause. I've quoted below some info relating to what I learned.

"It would then seem logical that we need milk in order to have strong bones. Let’s look a little deeper than the superficial marketing ploys and find out if this is true. If we just look at basic nutrition and chemistry, it is a well-accepted fact that in order to absorb calcium to it’s fullest, we need magnesium. Milk is essentially devoid of magnesium. Granted, milk is very high in calcium, however it does not matter how much calcium we ingest, if we cannot absorb it is of little use. Studies have shown that the higher the intake of dairy in a society, the greater the risk of osteoporosis. You would think that the opposite would be true, but is not. One explanation might be that animal proteins, including milk, contain amino acids methianine and cistine. These amino acids attract calcium and bind to it, making it unavailable for absorption. If there is not enough calcium floating around, the body is forced to give up calcium from the bones in order to satisfy the needs."

"Dietary factors do play a critical role, however. One reported culprit in osteoporosis is excessive cooked animal protein. The hypothesis was digestion and metabolism of animal protein results in organic acids that must be neutralized (buffered) by alkaline minerals. If there is mineral depletion (very common according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture), the body uses the alkaline reserve in bone (calcium) to buffer the acid byproducts of protein metabolism. Total protein intake greater than 47 grams a day has been shown to promote osteoporosis. While a large serving of vegetables can contribute up to 16 grams of protein, a 6-ounce sirloin steak contains 40 grams itself! Furthermore, the more protein you eat, the faster calcium is lost. None of this is important if you have adequate calcium intake according to more recent studies, however. To emphasize the importance of alkaline buffers, a study found using potassium bicarbonate alone was effective in treating osteoporosis without giving any calcium.

Pasteurized milk is often thought of as a good calcium source. However, milk may not only not prevent osteoporosis but may actually contribute to it! The two countries with the highest milk consumption are the U.S. and New Zealand. Both lead the world in incidence of osteoporosis. An article in the American Journal Of Public Health (97;87:992-7) reported that 75,000 Nurses who were followed for 12 years showed no greater protection against bone fractures from increased milk intake, in fact the high milk drinkers had a higher risk! Another study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (94;139:493-505) revealed the same results in Australian women. One reason is that pasteurization (heating the milk) destroys a crucial enzyme in raw milk that allows utilization of calcium. Since pasteurized milk contains phosphorus and cooked protein, pasteurized milk becomes a promoter of osteoporosis. It is no wonder that the most successful bone-building products we recommend are in their raw whole food state!"
 
Realmhiker said:
In my case, I have gone from simple scales on my head to ramdom spots all over my body, to pits in the finger nails, to painful joint problems. For example, I can't run, even on a tredmill. I can walk, up to a point, and then, the pain starts. So, after years of reading, and trying traditional to non traditional doctors, I am inclined to believe that my problem might have an entire different source, and that yes, in some sense my soul might be damaged, or it has an attachment that wants it damaged. There is plenty of family history of painful situations, and wrong doings. Many of them created by culture and even religion. Disinformation, ignorance, superstition, etc...
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I'm begining to think that many of the problems we face, both psychological and physical, have their origin in the past, perhaps even our past lives.

People with psychological problems often have difficult (even abusive) childhoods... but it seems that they also need the genetics as well, to develop a fully formed problem of any type. Its difficult to not get frustrated when we are confronted with problems where we don't know the causes and to spend years and years looking for answers that we sometimes feel we may never find.

I came across a very interesting book written by Mona Lisa Schulz called "Awakening Intuition - Using your mind-body network for insight and healing", who is a medical intuitive (sometimes call a 'psychic psychiatrist').
http://www.intuitive-connections.net/issue1/bookSchulz.htm

Also, this is where you find the blood type diet book.
http://www.dadamo.com/

Personally, I've found that meditation, counselling and being able to 'follow one's heart' when it comes to doing what you want in life, helps. On the whole, this never seems to reflect what others THINK a person SHOULD be doing. Also it pays to know what an energy stealing reality we live in to and to recognise when (mostly all the time for people in difficulty) this is happening, or happening to excess.

If I was to say how Realmhikers condition 'speaks' to me, I would say it said: 'not comfortable in my skin'. Doing things to cleanse the body of toxins and finding out past-life (often unpalatable) connections may help.
 
I have a question about this topic and would like some input. My daughter just told me on the way home from school that she found out one of her friends has been cutting. Apparently, other mutual friends found out about it accidentally have known about this for the past month but didn't say anything because the friend in question is very ashamed about it and asked them not to tell anyone, so they haven't. The brief background is that the girl's mother is an extreme perfectionist -- probably a lot of narcissism going on -- and I don't know much about her father except that he is ex-military. My daughter is still taking all of this in, because her friend is noted for "always being happy" and an achiever, but she just pointed out to me that although she has lots of friends, she doesn't seem to have any particular person that she is especially close to at school (with the possible exception of her boyfriend, I'm not sure). I explained to my daughter that the happiness is most likely a facade that has been constructed to mask pain, although we can only guess at the source.

Now that I know, I need to figure out what to do with this knowledge. My first idea was to ask to speak with the school counselor and tell him what I know, asking that he keep the source confidential. I don't know if her parents are even aware of the problem or not, but I think it needs to be addressed. So any input and ideas about how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated!
 
Shijing said:
I have a question about this topic and would like some input. My daughter just told me on the way home from school that she found out one of her friends has been cutting. Apparently, other mutual friends found out about it accidentally have known about this for the past month but didn't say anything because the friend in question is very ashamed about it and asked them not to tell anyone, so they haven't. The brief background is that the girl's mother is an extreme perfectionist -- probably a lot of narcissism going on -- and I don't know much about her father except that he is ex-military. My daughter is still taking all of this in, because her friend is noted for "always being happy" and an achiever, but she just pointed out to me that although she has lots of friends, she doesn't seem to have any particular person that she is especially close to at school (with the possible exception of her boyfriend, I'm not sure). I explained to my daughter that the happiness is most likely a facade that has been constructed to mask pain, although we can only guess at the source.

Now that I know, I need to figure out what to do with this knowledge. My first idea was to ask to speak with the school counselor and tell him what I know, asking that he keep the source confidential. I don't know if her parents are even aware of the problem or not, but I think it needs to be addressed. So any input and ideas about how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated!
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Shijing,

I think that talking to the counselor is a very good idea, even if it has to NOT be confidential. I went through phases of this as a teenager, and my mother never noticed. The few people who did notice and asked, let it go very easily as I always had a story, and because I was a model student with excellent grades they bought it quite easily.

I can just about bet you that even if my mother did notice, or someone had told her, there would have been very little empathy. It would have been about how bad it made her look, and the further degree of stupidity I was capable of. She was also a perfectionist.

I think that this girl really wants some help. She at least is telling people. I never told a living soul. Actually, I think this is the first time I have ever told anyone I did that. A third party outside of the family I think has the best chance of helping her, since most likely the issue stems from the family to begin with.
 
Shijing said:
Now that I know, I need to figure out what to do with this knowledge. My first idea was to ask to speak with the school counselor and tell him what I know, asking that he keep the source confidential. I don't know if her parents are even aware of the problem or not, but I think it needs to be addressed. So any input and ideas about how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated!
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Yeah, I think speaking to the school counselor is probably a good idea. As a number of people already know about it, it shouldn't be too difficult to keep the source confidential. They will have resources to deal with the situation, as unfortunately it is not uncommon behavior among teenagers today. I have read that the percentage of teenagers cutting themselves nowadays is quite high.

The parents may be unaware, or in denial, and may, as in EH's case, not react supportively, but in any case the girl needs counselling and help to deal with whatever issues are causing this.
 
manitoban said:
Shijing said:
Now that I know, I need to figure out what to do with this knowledge. My first idea was to ask to speak with the school counselor and tell him what I know, asking that he keep the source confidential. I don't know if her parents are even aware of the problem or not, but I think it needs to be addressed. So any input and ideas about how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think speaking to the school counselor is probably a good idea. As a number of people already know about it, it shouldn't be too difficult to keep the source confidential. They will have resources to deal with the situation, as unfortunately it is not uncommon behavior among teenagers today. I have read that the percentage of teenagers cutting themselves nowadays is quite high.

The parents may be unaware, or in denial, and may, as in EH's case, not react supportively, but in any case the girl needs counselling and help to deal with whatever issues are causing this.
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Make sure you can do so anonymously, because this kind of thing can have a nasty backlash, not just for you, for the girl in question too.
 
Going to a counselor COULD have a positive effect, especially if the counselor keeps it confidential, but knowing how people normally react to this kind of thing it could get ugly.

I can just about bet you that even if my mother did notice, or someone had told her, there would have been very little empathy. It would have been about how bad it made her look, and the further degree of stupidity I was capable of.
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For most of later teenage years I was a cutter and it was mostly due to my relationship with my narcissistic and alcoholic mother. Only when I got away from her did I stop. Like what EmeraldHope wrote, my mother would also bad mouth my cutting and say things to me that were down right insulting in spite of the obvious cry for help. Since the girl most likely has a bad home life, if the parents get word they could feel threatened by it.

Also, you may want to ask your daughter if it is Ok to do this since she put trust in you by telling you this. I'm not sure how old your daughter is, but maybe she could get in some words of support as it is always better to have a peer to talk to.

Just my thoughts for what they're worth.
 
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