“Cutting” A Hidden Epidemic Exposed on YouTube
February 21, 2011 | Health
Disturbing news coming from the land of YouTube, images of arms bleeding and/or scarred, teens are slicing themselves with razor blades or other sharp object; elegizing the act with poetry of pain, loneliness and hopelessness.
Researchers report, teens posting videos on YouTube that depict “cutting,” or other forms of self-injury such as embedding objects under the skin or burning themselves is evidence of an alarming new trend.
“Some individuals who view this, if they are vulnerable and if they are regularly and repeatedly viewing these types of videos, it could be a virtual community in which self-injury could be reinforced and getting help is not always conveyed,” said study author Stephen Lewis, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
A study released online Feb. 21 showed a search for the top 100 most-viewed videos about self-injury or self-harm, with 64 percent about cutting, had been viewed more than 2.3 million times. Yet few of the videos were outright encouraging cutting — only about 7 percent were obviously so, 42 percent were neutral, 26 percent discouraged self-injury and 23 percent had a mixed message.
Youths who “cut” are typically not trying to kill themselves, but say that harming themselves helps them cope with other mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression and frustration, explained Dr. Niranjan Karnik, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at University of Chicago who specializes in treating adolescents.
For parents who find out their teen is cutting Karnick warns “Don’t come down on them like a ton of bricks if it’s minor cutting,” he advised. “For many kids, it’s like a pressure valve until we can give them some better strategies for coping.”
This article was written by: Heath Sellers
