Summary
Intentional self-harm, often in the form of cutting one's self, is generally associated with emotional or mental distress, especially when observed among teens. When in pain, the human body releases calming endorphins, leading some to injure themselves to experience the endorphin euphoria. Self-harm is associated with mental health disorders such as borderline personality disorder, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. And while those who engage in self-harm may not intend themselves any serious physical injury, such risky behavior can result in death. Cutting and Self-Harm discusses the most common types of self-injurious behavior, what they mean, how they can be treated, and how they can be prevented.
Chapters include:
- What Is Self-Harm?
- Who Engages In Self-Harm?
- Self-Harm and Mental Illness
- Identification and Treatment of Self-Harm
- Prevention: How Do We Prevent Self-Harm?
Specifications
Full-color and black-and-white illustrations. Glossary. Sidebars. Further resources. Endnotes. Index.
About the Author(s)
Heather Barnett Veague, Ph.D., attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and received her Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University in 2004. She is the author of several journal articles investigating information processing and the self in borderline personality disorder. Currently, she is working on a book with Dr. Abigail Baird about insight into adolescent behavior informed by evolution and neuroscience. Veague lives in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Foreword author Pat Levitt, Ph.D., is the director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.