Teens cut for emotion: Self harm gains in popularity among todays youth

By Tyler Heath, Sentinel reporter, theath@lewistownsentinel.com


LEWISTOWN Emo means different things to different people. To many eyes and ears, this may be an unfamiliar and unheard of term.

As with most terms brought to life by pop culture, securing a proper and well-referenced definition can be difficult. Type the term in any Internet search engine, and emotional will likely turn up as the meaning.

Encarta, Microsofts online dictionary, defines emo two ways: as a noun and adjective. In its adjective, often slang form, emo means excessive displays of emotion. In the form of a noun, it refers to a genre of punk-rock music that began in the mid-1980s in Washington, D.C., and is noted for its thoughtful and emotional lyrics.

Emotions can be expressed in a variety of ways. Crying is an obvious method. Another may be laughing. How about screaming, sleeping, writing or singing?

Depending on the person and situation, expressions of emotion are an endless sea of variety, most of the time posing as harmless actions.

Enter cutting. Cutting ones self in order to relieve anger, stress or tension, is this actions basis, according to Encarta.

Recently, secondary schools and parents of school students are voicing concern with self harm and its possible associations with emo culture.

What do cutting and emo have in common? Type emo cutter into any Internet search engine and hundreds of personal Web sites and blogs pop up, many touting the action of cutting as an indication of an individuals emotions their emo.

There are stereotypes associated with emo. There are also those who might confuse behaviors, such as those who tie emo and cutting to Goth, a movement that made headlines in the 1990s with iconic figures such as shock-rocker Marilyn Mansion and tragic labels like the Trench Coat Mafia, which was given to Columbine High School shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.

Stereotypes can affect emotions of those labeled, and as seen in the Columbine massacre, somebody or something will be blamed for an individuals actions.

Goth and emo may look the same in a fashion sense coed eyeliner, tight black T-shirts and jeans, and black nail polish but emo is looked at as a less hardcore and more emotional expression for a generation that has struggled to sustain an image, according to an article posted on www.msnbc.com.

When asked about emos association with cutting, several local psychologists and psychiatrists were unfamiliar with the correlation. Cutting, however, is a well-known problem with growing momentum among todays troubled youth.

According to www.selfharm.org a self-injury organization that acts as a safe haven cutting, or self injury, is any intentional injury to one's own body. The Web sites says self harm usually leaves marks or causes tissue damage, but usually is not suicidal behavior.

This behavior may seem to be more prominent with those who are involved with the emo movement, due to the basis of emo song lyrics and its youthful fan base. The fans can be at a stage in their lives where choosing an identity can be troublesome and frustrating.

One band, Adam And Andrew, has the following lyrics in one of their songs:

Stop my breathing and slit my throat, I must be an emo.

I don't jump around when I go to shows, I must be an emo.

Dye in my hair and polish on my toes, I must be an emo.

I play guitar and write suicide notes, I must be an emo.

Emo musical artists know their classification; they want this label after all, they can capitalize on it.

There are, of course, arguments over lyrics such as these. For example, if an individual is told to jump off a bridge by a song, will the person do so? Most likely not, but when coupled with a dark past, an emotional present and troubled adolescents, lyrics can be quite influential.

Cutting behaviors or cutters as it is called, is usually symptoms of a bigger problem, said Nitin Sheth, child psychiatrist and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry at Lewistown Hospital.

Sheth said the behavior is a symptom like a fever and not a disease by itself. It is common and usually starts in middle aged teenagers, he said.

It is more frequent in girls than in boys, Sheth said. It is less noticed in winter because of clothing can cover it (often done of upper arms and legs) and in summer people can see the scars. It is rarely an attention seeking behavior; usually it is a secretive behavior and they are shameful of it, he said.

The courting of misery and death is a long-established teenage tradition, said Sarah Sands, a writer for the Londons Daily Mail in a March 2006 article.

How many bedroom walls have been plastered with posters of drippy pre-Raphaelite heroines, or Marc Bolan or Kurt Cobain? When death is a long way off, you can afford to be more morbid about it, she said.

Just as there are different definitions of emo, cutters pose several reasons for injuring themselves. Sheth said some cut to get physical pain or to relieve the emotional pain.

Some cut to resolve feelings of numbness and feel alive as they sometimes feel dead and empty inside, Sheth said. Some cut to release an overwhelming tension. Sometime it is to punish themselves due to their feelings of guilt, he said.

It (cutting) can be associated with depression, borderline personality disorder or eating disorders, like anorexia. Many times it is related to the history of childhood sexual abuse, Sheth said.

Sheth said a child or any individual who performs self harm needs a complete psychiatric evaluation and counseling.

As for those children who fit the emo description, parents should talk to their children if there is a concern.

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Hmm... This almost makes sense... I don't know why this would be in a public newspaper... But... O.K...

I have to admit... Physical punishment is probably what I do it for... Guilt is a powerful pusher on the mind...
But what are we guilty for... Do we even know that much about ourselves...?

I'll let you answer that...