SI Myths VS Facts

Myth: Self-injury is the same as attempting suicide.

Fact: Self-injurers are not attempting suicide when they cut.  Cutting is done to cope with unmanageable emotions.  Many self-injurers say that cutting actually prevents them from committing suicide.  Cutting is a skill for coping with life, albeit a maladaptive one.  

Myth: People who cut themselves just want attention.

Fact: Most self-injurers go to great lengths to hide what they do.  In fact, one warning sign that someone is cutting himself/herself is the constant wearing of long sleeves, even in warm weather.  Obviously, there is a huge stigma attached to self-injury; very many cutters are ashamed of what they do, and tell no one.  There are self-injurers who wear short sleeves and do nothing to hide their scars, or even their fresh cuts.  Still, this does not mean they are attention-seekers. Most often, they don't hide their scars/cuts because they don't accept the stigma surrounding self-injury, and refuse to live in shame. Or, the weather in their climate may be too hot to constantly wear long sleeves and/or pants. At any rate, a self-injurer should not have to hide; he/she should be able to wear whatever clothes he/she likes.  Even so, most self-injurers do hide their scars and cuts.  Self-injury is not simple attention-seeking. 

Myth: Self-Injury is only present in the developmentally disabled and mentally retarded.

Fact: It's true that self-injurious behaviors are sometimes observed in severe mental retardation.  However, self-injury in the MR/DD population is usually of the stereotypic/repetitive kind.  For example, a person may sit banging his/her head against the wall over and over again.  As I understand it, self-injurious behavior in the severely MR/DD population is usually not performed for the cathartic reasons which I am discussing on this page.   

Myth: Only female teenagers self-injure.

Fact: While most known self-injury occurs in females, it may be that more males self-injure than is realized; men may be more hesitant to admit to self-injury than women, because men are socialized to project their anger outward, and self-injury is turning it against oneself. It is certain, however, that female teenagers are not the only population engaging in this behavior.  People of all genders, ethnicities, economic spheres, nationalities, and sexualities are affected by self-injury.  It does not occur in only one population.   

Myth: Self-injury is gross and sick.  Anyone who can do that to himself/herself is crazy.

Fact: Self-injury is unhealthy.  But just because you cannot understand something does not give you the right to dismiss someone else as "crazy" or"?gross."  The vast majority of self-injurers know that what they are doing is unhealthy and not good for them.  But, for the moment, it may be the only thing that helps the emotional pain they are feeling.  To degrade them using words such as "sick," or "gross" promotes stigma and shame.  Neither are conducive to overcoming self-injury; degradation only promotes self-hate, which is already present far too often in a self-injurer.   

Myth: People who self-injure must have been sexually abused.

Fact: It is true that many self-injurers are sexual abuse survivors.  However, that is not true for all self-injurers.  It is dangerous to make such wide generalizations, whether talking about self-injury or anything else.  A self-injurer may have been abused physically or emotionally, but not sexually.  Or, he/she might never have been abused at all.  There is no one "cause" of self-injury. Everyone is different.  

Myth: You keep saying "self-injury," but isn't the accurate term "self-mutilation?"

Fact: It's true that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (the "Bible" of psychiatric diagnoses) refers to cutting, burning, etc., as "self-mutilation," and very many mental health professionals do the same.  However, most self-injurers find the term "self-mutilation" to be degrading and humiliating; there is a difference between mutilating and injuring. Most find the term self-injury to be much less derogatory.  

Myth: If someone self-injurers, he/she has Borderline Personality Disorder.

Fact: There are nine criteria used for diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder.  Self-injury is only one of the nine, and at least five must be present in an individual for a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder to be given.  Occasionally, mental health "professionals" diagnosis someone with Borderline Personality Disorder solely on the fact that the person is a self-injurer; that is an example of irresponsible, inaccurate mental health practice. 

Myth: Self-injury is a trend; people do it to be "cool."

Fact: If this were true, the majority of self-injurers would not go to great lengths to hide their behavior.  Self-injury has nothing to do will "coolness;" it has to do with coping with unmanageable feelings.  Self-injury is receiving more media coverage, but while this happens, there are people who have been cutting for 20 years or more, completely unaware that there are other people "like them."  Self-injury is not a new phenomenon; it is just that people are now "coming out of the closet," so to speak.  

Myth: Self-injury is very rare.

Fact: It may not be common, but it is not as rare a behavior as one might think.  It has been estimated that approximately 1% of the population engages in self-injury.  To put this in perspective, imagine you're in a large auditorium, seeing a play, attending a class, etc.  Imagine there are 300 people in the auditorium.  According to the estimate, there are probably about 3 people in the auditorium with you who self-injure.  That's really not that rare. 

Myth: Tattoos and body piercings are forms of self-injury.

Fact: While it may be possible that a person might be tattooed or pierced many times for reasons similar to self-injury, that is not the case in the vast majority of people. Tattoos and body piercings are expressions (of art, cultural affiliation, interests, wanting to look cool, etc.) which are motivated by something different than self-injurious expressions (of pain, seeking catharsis, an end to numbness, self-punishment, etc).  It should be noted that there are people who refer to themselves as modern primitives; they sometimes cut themselves or have someone else cut designs/patterns into their skin for the purposes of scarification.  Even this is different from self-injury, because modern primitives engage in scarification for reasons similar to people who get tattoos and body piercings.   

Myth: Self-injury is somehow related to Satanism.

Fact: Believe it or not, someone actually asked me this about my SI once, so I'm adding it to this list.  As previously stated, self-injury is a maladaptive coping skill for dealing with emotional pain.  It has nothing to do with Satanism, cult activity, or any religious beliefs.  

Myth: Someone who self-injures can just stop what they're doing, if they really want to.

Fact: It is very difficult to stop self-injuring. Some people consider it to be an addiction, while other say it is "addictive-like."  Almost all self-injures develop a psychological dependence upon SI, which is so strong that it can feel like a physical need.  It is certainly very possible to stop, but it is not easy, and it is very rare for someone to be able to stop self-injuring overnight.  Some people go for several years without self-injuring, then something happens that sends them back to it.  This is similar to drug and alcohol abuse.  Recovery from self-injury is ongoing, and the urges may be present for many years after the SI has stopped.