[lbo-talk] self-injury epidemic

[jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net]

I remember learning about this in health class in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade. IIRC it was taught as being mostly 
a female issue along with aneroxia however. Something to be alert for for girls but not guys. Cutting, 
burning, and hair pulling were what we were supposed to be alert for. That was in the 70's so I don't know 
why this writer thinks "People who are over the age of 35 sometimes can't wrap their minds around this 
phenomenon."

I guess where Whitlock grew up it wasn't discussed but it was in NY, MO, and OK. There was also a lot of 
self-mutilation in the punk movement that would seem to me to be driven by similar motivations. It doesn't 
strike me as something new in any way but perhaps the numbers are greater. Maybe people were more 
interested in believing they were accidents when I was younger?

John Thornton

On 5 Jun 2006 at 9:25, Doug Henwood forwarded:


> Self-Injury Epidemic
> 
> Some have argued that Hollywood has helped bring a behavior out of  
> the closet that's always existed, says Whitlock. In the 2003 film,  
> 13, a teenager is shown sneaking into a bathroom to cut her arms, and  
> Angelina Jolie's flirtations with blood-letting have been detailed on  
> many an entertainment show. The singer Plumb also offers a song about  
> cutting on her latest album.
> 
> "People who are over the age of 35 sometimes can't wrap their minds  
> around this phenomenon," says Whitlock. "This is nothing that anyone  
> used to talk about when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. I  
> don't know of any young people who aren't aware of it today. In my  
> mind, the cat's out of the bag."
> 
> — Rob Capriccioso