At 08:09 AM 5/26/02, you wrote: >Ronn said: > > > ATLANTA (AP) --Adolescents show up at hospital emergency rooms with > > self-inflicted injuries -- usually suicide attempts -- more often than > > any other age group, the government said Thursday. > >It should be noted that although (perhaps) most of the self-inflicted >injuries treated at emergency rooms are from suicide attempts (although >it seems to me that there's a real risk of misdiagnosis by ill-informed >ER staff), the vast majority of self-inflicted injuries in the general >population are not. It is much more common to inflict injuries on >oneself to dissipate powerful emotions that the injurer has not learned >to deal with in other ways. Some estimates suggest that as many as one >in five female undergraduates injure themselves with this motive, and >it seems that around 1% of the general population engages in repetitive >self-injurious behaviour to modify emotional states. > >The CNN article is also incorrect in its suggestion that most non-lethal >self-injury is attention seeking, as, in my experience, most people who >self-injure go to some lengths to keep their behaviour secret. One >friend who cuts herself managed to cover her forearms with small razor >cuts roughly once a week for four or five years before anyone else >learned that she was doing so. My conversations with other friends who >cut or burn themselves suggest that such secrecy is typical. Indeed, >several of them are horrified at the idea that their self-injurious >behaviour might become common knowledge. > >There's lots more information on this type of self-injury at > >http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html > >Rich
What I've heard from other sources agrees with what Rich says. I forwarded the article from this morning's edition of a daily news update I get because I thought it might be of interest in connection with our recent discussion about violence and suicide among young people. IOW, just because it's on the Internet�even if it's from a recognized source�don't necessarily take it as fact. Or, as the reliability and maintainability engineer who had the office across from mine when I was working for the USAF Flight Test Center was fond of frequently saying: "Everyone is entitled to his own ridiculous opinion." -- Ronn! :) God bless America, Land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam� God bless America! My home, sweet home. -- Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
