Cutters

This blog, 12 Steps And A Winding Road, is intended to be about "life, love, and addiction issues".


I think this subject of "Cutting" falls into this category in a big way....


My pastor's daughter, Laura Rink, did a presentation at our church regarding the issue of people who cut themselves. She was exposed to this after spending time this past summer at a camp for troubled teens.... as a counselor,... not a troubled teen. (Thought I should clear that up before I had to backtrack and undo some damage there)... :-)


God bless Laura for having a heart to be a counselor. It's a tough struggle. Most folks don't want to be "counseled".... thus, the challenge with the entire concept....


When I was getting my degree in drug and alcohol counseling, this issue of "cutting" never came up. It was never on the radar, but I think it falls right in there with all "addiction" issues and the underlying problems, along with the solutions, share much similarity.


If you have teenagers, or are around any teenagers, more than likely there is a connection to this issue of cutting. It's becoming more and more prevalent in this post-modern era.

Laura's source of information, besides the experience at the camp, is taken from a book by Nancy Alcorn, published in 2007.


If this is a problem for you or someone in your immediate family or circle of friends, I would recommend that you rush out and get a copy of the book!....


In my next couple of blogs I will try to loosely cover some of the salient aspects of this disturbing phenomenon...


"Cutting".... defined as doing "self-harm".... a deliberate, impulsive harming of the body, mostly done in secret and often hard to detect. Most cutters cut themselves in areas of their bodies that aren't likely to be exposed... to friends... parents... teachers.... the public.




Can also be symptomized by:


1. The cutting itself


2. A constant scratching as a response to psychic pressure or unexpected circumstances which cause stress. Also, picking at scabs and preventing the healing process from taking place.


3. Burning the skin on a regular basis with erasers, fire, or small heat-conducting objects.


4. Punching the body, including beating the head against walls or other inanimate objects.


5. Biting the inside of the mouth or the skin of the arms, hands or legs.


6. Pulling hair out.. including eyelashes and eyebrows.


7. Breaking bones or severely bruising the body.






What's behind this type of behavior?


Destructive emotions



Escape


Past or present abuse


Family dysfunction


Depression


Shame









Many of you might notice that these are some of the same issues that drive drug addiction and alcoholism, even sexual addiction.




Why do some people.... drink excessively..... take drugs....Involve themselves in destructive sexual behaviors...... "cut themselves"...... ?



The answer is: (drum roll please).......Because it feels good.



To most people this may seems like an incongruent answer, but it is an accurate one nonetheless.

As I stated in a previous blog... the human condition can be defined fairly simply... to "pursue" pleasure.... and to "avoid" pain.





The key in understanding addiction is to understand that there is more than just one type of pain. There's the "physical" pain we're all familiar with. Then, there is the "emotional" pain that we all go through on some level. Most of us who aren't addicts have better coping mechanisms to deal with psychic pain. Live is always painful on some front, in varying degrees of severity.


To the person who cuts themselves, the physical pain of mutilating the body is actually a release from a deeper, "psychic" pain, ... perhaps a pain that is so deep that it can't be "felt", (at least in the normal way we think about feelings),...so it has to come out in some other way other than a typical way of coping, the way life is dealt with by most people.

Just as the addict or alcoholic is using drugs and/or alcohol, the act of "cutting" actually feels better than the internal pain. Over time, this release of emotion becomes a continual thing, leading to addiction.

I've had heroin addicts tell me that part of the joy of getting "high" is actually the use of the needle. Most folks shudder at the thought of getting a shot, where the drug addict has taken the feeling of the poke of the needle on the skin and deeply associated it with the high of the drug. Addiction is indeed, cunning and baffling...




This is a pretty heavy issue. I will continue to try and convey some more information about this issue in my next blog.



In the meantime, like I said at the beginning,... IF you know someone who is experiencing this, or you are experiencing it yourself,... run, don't walk... and get a copy of the book "CUT" by Nancy Alcorn. You will need this information to move forward in getting help for yourself, a friend, or a loved-one.....



Thanks Laura, for bringing this issue to my attention and allowing me to make use of some of your material to convey this message to my readers...

You can find websites for the book by doing a search on Google and putting in the words "CUT' and "Nancy Alcorn"