A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain"I highly recommend [A Bright Red Scream], because it’s beautifully written and . . . so candid.” —Amy Adams, star of HBO's Sharp Objects in Entertainment Weekly Self-mutilation is a behavior so shocking that it is almost never discussed. Yet estimates are that upwards of eight million Americans are chronic self-injurers. They are people who use knives, razor blades, or broken glass to cut themselves. Their numbers include the actor Johnny Depp, Girl Interrupted author Susanna Kaysen, and the late Princess Diana. Mistakenly viewed as suicide attempts or senseless masochism—even by many health professionals—"cutting" is actually a complex means of coping with emotional pain. Marilee Strong explores this hidden epidemic through case studies, startling new research from psychologists, trauma experts, and neuroscientists, and the heartbreaking insights of cutters themselves--who range from troubled teenagers to middle-age professionals to grandparents. Strong explains what factors lead to self-mutilation, why cutting helps people manage overwhelming fear and anxiety, and how cutters can heal both their internal and external wounds and break the self-destructive cycle. A Bright Red Scream is a groundbreaking, essential resource for victims of self-mutilation, their families, teachers, doctors, and therapists. |
Contents
The Walking Wounded | 1 |
Into the Void | 17 |
The Secret Language of Pain The Psychology of Cutting | 29 |
Copyright | |
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abused children abused girls addiction adolescent alcohol anger angry Anorexia Nervosa anxiety anymore Armando Favazza began behavior believe bingeing blood body borderline borderline personality disorder brain bulimia bulimic burning Cherie child abuse childhood chronic Conterio cutters cutting David Frankel depressed dissociation dissociative disorders doctors drugs eating disorders emotions Erin experience F. W. Putnam father fear feel felt Fiona healing hospital hurt inside Journal Kathryn Harrison kids Kolk lives memories mental mother mutilation never numb overwhelming pain parasuicidal parents patients percent personality disorder physical piercing posttraumatic stress disorder problems Psychiatry psychological psychologist PTSD purging Putnam recalls relationship Roxanne SAFE says scars Schwartz self-harm self-injury self-mutilation sense sexual abuse skin stop stress disorder suffered suicide symptoms talk tattoo tell therapist therapy things thought tion told trauma treatment trying victim woman wounds