Cutting: The Burden of Emotional Stress
December 10, 2010 by admin
Filed under Features, Top Stories
On Nov. 8, Demi Lovato, the Disney Channel star most known for her role in Sonny with a Chance, checked herself into a medical center for professional help and therapy to help her deal with eating disorders and cutting. Besides proving how the celebrity world can destroy a person at any age, this also demonstrates that the issue of cutting can affect anyone, even those who least expect it.
KidsHealth.org states, “Injuring yourself on purpose by making scratches or cuts on your body with a sharp object — enough to break the skin and make it bleed — is called cutting.” The act of cutting is a form of self-injury that is used to control emotional pain. It is cutting through one’s skin in common areas of the arms, thighs, wrists and/or even hips. It is important to know that cutting is not a suicide attempt. Self-injury may feel like a way of “waking up” from a sense of numbness after a traumatic experience.
The average age of beginner cutters is between ages 11 to 14, and it is reported that girls do it more than boys. Statistics show that about 1% of the population of the United States cuts.
These practices of cutting have been going on for decades if not centuries, but it has become less secretive in the past two decades. One of Presentation’s guidance counselors, Ms. Schrader, noted, “Cutting, in the past few years, has become the new anorexia and is used as a way for students to feel relief over ‘gaining control’ of situations.”
Once the compulsion to cut is acted upon enough times, it can become a compulsive behavior, just like any bad habit. Usually, when someone is that anxious and stressed, the cutting creates a “high” and certain rush that makes the act addictive. The addiction can happen to anyone, even the least expected.
Veronica* student said, “My friend cut because she never talked about her feelings and needed release, but no one could expect it of her because she was a 4.8 student and a top soccer player. Stress just took over.”
At times, people cut to fit in. Teenagers and young adults have often behaved in ways that they believe will make them popular and fit in, such as drinking and smoking, but now cutting has made that list.
Yes, cutting has become a factor in our society today, but has it affected Presentation? Ms. Schrader believes that it has. “There are a lot of factors to the blanket of stress that leads anyone to cutting, and I think college, technology and expectations play big roles, especially in Presentation.”
Ms. Schrader handles students who have cut or are thinking about cutting by referring them to outside counseling. She calls parents if the student does not want to face them herself because a common symptom of cutting is shame. Ms. Schrader says, “I will not bring up the cutting or why the student wants or needs the outside therapy unless the student asks me to.”
There are common signs of cutters to watch out for. These signs are not always the case of the classic cutter because cutting affects all people. If someone starts wearing long sleeve shirts or many bracelets, talk to them.
Anyone can give into the thought of cutting because it is not a thought-out process; it is an impulse brought on by extravagant emotional pain or stress, yearning to be shown. Cutting is brought on by emotions such as anger, hurt, shame, frustration or alienation. When these emotions aren’t expressed in a healthy manner, tension can be built up and eventually make a person snap.
Most importantly, if you are worried that one of your friends is cutting or if you are cutting secretly, please follow TeensHealth’s to-do list: talk to someone, figure out what emotion is triggering the cutting, ask for help and work on it. Once one is a cutter, she will always be a cutter because relapses can happen.
Veronica* says in order to remind Presentation, “Relapses do happen, especially in times of intense stress, so watch for your friends and yourself.”
Ms. Schrader finds out about most of the cutting at Presentation from the cutter’s friend who has come to her stating that they are worried and concerned for their classmate. Cutting usually comes about because of an underlying reason.
Velma*, “There is a huge misconception in cutting in that it is done for attention, but really it isn’t. When I found out my friend was cutting, I thought she was being dramatic, but it turns out that she really did believe she needed to be punished.”
No one can force someone who self-injures to stop by getting angry and lecturing them on how wrong self-inflicted pain is. Instead, letting a friend know you care and telling them that they deserve to be happy is more successful.
Overall, a new coping method is necessary because the act of cutting is very unhealthy, and if one damages their body, they degrade it. One way to help fight against this self-damaging act is writing “Love” on the wrist, like in the picture provided. It has been done throughout the world to spread awareness.
*Names have been changed
Cut it Out!
Cutting is a violation of the unspoken rule of waiting your own turn. Since we were little kids, we have always been taught, among other things, to say please and thank you, to not grab, and to wait in line. These principles are basic and fundamental to common courtesy. Just because you are hungry and want to save a few minutes in line does not mean you are justified in cutting.
In the name of fairness and toes that do not like to be stepped on, cutting in the lunch line needs to end. Yes, waiting in line is a drag. Especially when cutters can easily send you backwards in line, causing you to wait even longer. As more and more cutters cram to the front, people who attempt to follow the rules are forced to step back and make room. This can also be rather dangerous. Multiple hungry teenage girls with elbows at the ready attempting to fit through a single small doorway? Not a good idea. Students trying to buy their lunch get pushed around and elbowed, which could possibly lead to injury.
You would think that as young ladies about to embark upon the world, we would have the maturity and manners to wait in line. Remember that we are not in kindergarten. We do not have naptime (though in-class sleepers may disagree). We do not run to teachers when someone hurts our feelings. And we should not be so impatient as to ignore the common rule of courtesy that we wait our own turn. Acting like young children is not admirable, and neither is cutting.
To be fair, as a fellow Pres girl, I must admit that cutting can be tempting. Although waiting in line is the right thing to do, sometimes it may seem impractical when there is an important lunchtime meeting or because waiting in line just takes too long when cutters force you backwards. There is no other choice but to cut as well. However, the solution is not far from hand. And it is entirely do-able.
How? It’s simple. Teachers monitoring the lunch line. Yes, there is rarely a single teacher who enjoys lunch duty. Like Pres girls, teachers enjoy their food too, and do not want to be interrupted or burdened with the task of wandering the campus during lunch. However, teachers on lunch duty need to monitor the lunch line and keep cutters away. And not just any teachers, but effective ones.
When Mrs. Collins stands on her chair ordering everyone into a single-file line, discontented cutters groan. For once, they have to wait their turn just like everybody else. The horror! Though some may find the faculty police burdensome and inconvenient, admittedly, they work. With teachers effectively monitoring the lunch line, the line moves more efficiently with the elimination of cutters. It is fairer, safer and faster.
So remember to consider others before cutting. Trees do not like be cut, and neither do lines.
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