Scoring as Self-Injury

It is estimated that more than 800,000 people in Germany are affected by self-injurious behavior (SVV), also called autoaggression. According to experts, the number of unreported cases is also high. Scribing is one of the ways of self-injury in self-injurious behavior, along with pulling out hair, head-banging, burning, biting or needling. People use razor blades, knives, shards or scissors to scratch their own skin.

Self-injury: scoring as an SVV

According to empirical studies, most people who self-injure as a form of self-harm are between the ages of 14 and 20. Scribing is not gender-specific; however, more cases have been reported among girls than boys. The triggers of autoaggression are varied. Anger, sadness, emotional pain can lead to wanting to self-harm. However, autoaggression is also frequently found as an accompanying symptom of other mental illnesses: Borderline syndrome, bulimia as well as anorexia, depression, traumatization or even abuse. A typical reaction from outsiders about people who cut themselves is usually the question of how one can do such a thing to oneself. It is also often assumed that cutting is not only a form of self-harm but also an attempt at suicide. Psychologists and experts point out that scratching does not necessarily have suicide as its goal. Rather, those affected have an urgent need to relieve stress and get rid of built-up internal pressure. Many sufferers report that scoring virtually relieves them.

Feeling good about oneself through autoaggression

But also the urgent desire to feel himself and to perceive his own body, can hide behind the self-injurious behavior Ritzen. According to this, experience reports say that many of the autoaggressives feel an inner emptiness, their body is just a shell for them without any emotions. By scratching as a form of self-injury, they have the sensation of feeling themselves again. Another reason can be the redirection of a mental pain into physical pain for the affected adolescent, this is also a possible form of pressure relief. In addition, a great deal of anger and aggression towards oneself often plays a decisive role in self-injurious behavior. In the case of scratching, inner anger is not projected through aggression onto fellow human beings or objects, but onto oneself. Basically, scratching covers up emotional pain with physical pain. The fatal thing about cutting: It can become a kind of addiction. The need to feel oneself, to release stress or pressure can lead to a further and more intense need for scoring with each new self-injury.

Treating self-injurious behavior

Far from being a fad, cutting is a serious condition. Self-injurious behavior (SVV) of any kind is dangerous to one’s health as well as to the psyche. Therapeutic measures such as behavioral therapy, trauma management or psychoanalytic talk therapy are strongly recommended for autoaggressions. Help can be given by counseling centers or psychotherapists; in an emergency, the outpatient clinic of a psychiatric or even psychosomatic hospital should be visited. Because scratching can always represent a great danger to health and possibly even lead to a person bleeding to death. Anyone who suspects that young people are cutting themselves should by no means look away. It is important to build the relationship of trust in these situations. Even if parents are often shocked at first by their child’s behavior, a reproachful reaction to the self-injury should be avoided. The earlier therapy begins, the better the chances of getting the problem of autoaggression under control.

Laceration as a threat to health

Many adolescents who regularly cut themselves blind to possible dangers to their own health from self-harm. Many accompanying symptoms from scoring are even classified as “normal” by the affected adolescents, such as circulatory problems. Deep cuts can leave significant scars on the skin. For this reason, auto-aggressives like to choose parts of the body for scratching that can be concealed from the outside by clothing. Arms, legs, shoulders, thighs or the abdomen are the parts of the body most frequently affected by scratching.Depending on the cut, muscles can also be injured or even larger blood vessels, the latter can bring the danger of possible bleeding. Due to poor hygiene when cutting, such as dirty shards or a dirty knife, germs can also get into the wound, which in turn can lead to inflammation as a result of self-injury.