Dear Bad_Habit,

Cutting is an increasingly common form of self-injury. An estimated three million Americans engage in some form of self-injury. People often begin to injure themselves when they are teenagers.

Many psychologists and social workers believe that cutting and other forms of self-hurting are ways to release or express feelings that people find too difficult to deal with. Self-injury may be used to calm overwhelming and complicated emotional pain or translate it into something more clear and simple, like a cut or a burn.

Many people who injure themselves have been neglected or abused sexually, physically, or emotionally. Unable to allow themselves to recognize the pain of their abuse, they allow themselves to feel and release the pain of their abuse through self-injury. Self-injury may also be an unconscious attempt to communicate their pain to others.

Sometimes cutting and other self-injury can be controlled by people by themselves, especially if the self-injury is largely experimental. But ongoing self-injury is a serious problem that may be difficult to treat.

In either case, cutting and other forms of self-injury are nothing to be ashamed of. But it's very important to talk to a trusted adult who can help you find a counselor who has experience helping teenagers with self-destructive behavior. Sometimes family counseling is very helpful. Very often, certain medications are prescribed to help people who want to stop hurting themselves. You can get a referral for counseling from Planned Parenthood by calling 1-800-230-PLAN.

Help and information are also available on the S.A.F.E. (Self-Abuse Finally Ends) Alternatives Web site or by calling 1-800-DONT-CUT.

Hope this information helps!

Take care,

teenwire.com^® Editors

This column is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have a medical problem, please call toll-free 1-800-230-PLAN for an appointment with the Planned Parenthood health center nearest you.