Do you hurt yourself?

Do you know a cutter?

Are you responsible for planning professional development for teachers or counselor?

Read these viewer comments and consider contacting Wendy Schneider, director of CUT, to arrange a screening.

For more information or to schedule a screening at your school or organization, visit www.cutthemovie.com or  contact Wendy at :

Wendy@cutthemovie.com
P.O. Box 3253 Madison, WI 53704
608-239-5771

And now, viewer reactions:

* * * * * *
Thank you for providing an opportunity to increase awareness about cutting and beginning dialogue. I brought my 14-year-old daughter to the film. She recently began cutting and I am grateful for this film.
* * * * * *
I’m 15 and one of my best friends has recently began cutting, and when she started I was on the phone with her, so now she frequently says, “I don’t wanna be” and we have talked to our counselors about her cutting but our counselors haven’t done a thing, and none of us know what to do because now she does it for fun.
* * * * * *
Well, I am a cutter and I started when I was 11, and all I wanted was relief and I still cut to this day and I am 13. I burn myself too. It doesn’t hurt me but it hurts the people around me. It is an addiction for me, it is.
* * * * * *
I think the most important point of the film (for me) is that once I found another outlet the need to self-injure was diminished-that need stemmed from feeling disempowered and without access to resources with which to express my identity, much of it had to do with the fact that some identities are not as valued as others. Particularly with adolescent girls, what we look like is more important than how we feel or what we do. If we aren’t the stereotypically ideal child for some reason and without any way to channel our voice it can be very difficult to relieve stress without self injury. Like Shirley Manson, once I joined a band my need sent away on its own. I now feel that my voice is heard in empowering ways and I have come to terms with the fact that different aspects of my identity define me as Other. I now have pride and am without shame.
* * * * * *
What a great film. It was great to hear the stories all the way through. All the people involved gave more weight to the reasons for self-injury. The information shared and the willingness to tell experiences was very enlightening.
* * * * * *
I found the film to be very insightful and something I wish the adults in my life would have seen when I was a teenager.
* * * * * *
Whenever we hear voices that have been suppressed, we come closer to our understanding of the world we live in. Thanks to “CUT” we have heard some teens’ cry for help, and can begin to understand self-injury.
* * * * * *
I really liked being able to see the mother and daughter. Viewing them first as individual experiences but then tying them together in an inter-connected journey. Thank you for making this topic accessible by not “othering”/making it seem horrific and distant. I think this would be an incredible film for teachers to see. My mother is a 5th grade teacher and I find that she and her co-workers have a hard time seeing the possibility of issues, such as cutting, in the lives of their students. Thank you!
* * * * * *
Had I felt I had power, control or options during my teens and twenties, I might never have used my own blood as my “power over”. I am 40 now, but self-injury continues to be the first idea I’ll consider when I’m sad, frightened, and when I feel power-less. Funny how that never exactly goes away! Better though, the realization that I do have other options at my disposal. Thanks so much!
* * * * * *
Amazing variety of storytellers, such different reasoning… amazing music and artwork and poetry, well interspersed. I must write that my scientific curiosity wonders why that bloodletting seemed pleasurable physically. Loved the therapist narration… wonderful sensitivity as to not lay blame. Thanks!! Your amazing humility is one of your greatest gifts/talents.
* * * * * *
This film is very important. I have never seen such an honest depiction of self-harm. As someone who used to cut, it felt good to not be judged by the media for once.
* * * * * *
A tight, cohesive, thoughtful analysis of cutting.
* * * * * *
The teen voices are the real “VOICE” and give it that human touch this topic has been lacking.
* * * * * *

Powerful and aesthetic film. Significant and needed. Show it on PBS. I t needs to be seen by more teens, parents, teachers, and therapists.

CUT: Teens and Self Injury

a documentary film by Wendy Schneider

“Urgent, searching, and profoundly moving, CUT issues a call to bring the problem of self-injury out of the shadows and reminds us that the first step towards healing is an honest acknowledgment of reality.”

Cut:Teens and Self Injury provides an intimate look at a problem that affects thousands of young people, their families and friends.  Resisting sensationalism and graphic images, the film draws its power from the voices of the teens themselves.

The film’s participants talk about the root causes of their cutting: Their experiences of alienation and inadequacy, their deep desire to feel, their sense of cutting as a part of the world they can control. They describe the resistance and denial that often greets their attempts to talk about their feelings and actions. Finally, they describe how they confronted and often overcame their urge to self-harm.

Interviews with parents and mental health professionals increase understanding of the problem and provide practical ways to address it.

CUT’s highlights include rock icon Shirley Manson’s testimony concerning her own cutting.

Fully aware of the extent of the problem, the film incorporates the perspectives of males and females, whites blacks and Asian Americans.

For CUT event information or to schedule a screening at your school or organization, please contact the director, Wendy Schneider, at :

Wendy@cutthemovie.com
P.O. Box 3253 Madison, WI 53704
608-239-5771

Self-Injurious Behavior

WHY?

Karen (Director, S.A.F.E. Alternatives®)

“Teachers are in a very unique position because often times they’re going to be the first ones who notice this behavior. Kids tend to hide it more at home… If it’s not the teacher that notices it, it might be a friend. Bottom line, you have to talk about this. Self Injury is speaking to a lot of things
that are wrong in our society.”

David

“A safe place-I’ve never had one. My home was a very fearful place. I could tell when violence was going to occur in my house just by what I’d done that day. I knew when my dad was gonna pick me up after work, I knew what was gonna happen. Living with that for 12 years is complicated especially when you have no one to talk to about it. And when I did it to myself, it was really at the point where I realized that I was at this point in time feeling either depressed or frustrated to the extent that it was just overwhelming to no end. Just to get through the night or the rest of the day or whatever the case, just to get your mind off of it, I think, it helped.”

Kaylee

“Cutting, for me, was the only control that I really thought I had actually had… but in the end you just wonder if that is actually your control because you can’t stop sometimes or you need it… it’s the only thing that will make you feel better-and you shouldn’t let something like that control you.”

Do these statements sound familiar?

Are YOU  A Cutter?

A Burner?

A Head Basher?

A Bone Breaker?

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Seek out a community that understands. Go to S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® for more information.

Self injury is called many things: Self-inflicted violence, self-injury, self-harm, para-suicide, delicate cutting, self-abuse, self-mutilation.

But what is it?

Self-injury is the repeated act of attempting to alter your mood by inflicting physical harm serious enough to cause tissue damage to your body. “Tissue damage” means tears, bruises, or burns to the skin — something that causes bleeding or marks that don’t go away in a few minutes. This can include cutting (with knives, razors, glass, pins, any sharp object), burning, hitting your body with an object or your fists, hitting a heavy object (like a wall), picking at skin until it bleeds, biting yourself, pulling your hair out, etc. The most common are cutting, burning, and headbanging.

This is what Wikipedia says on the subject:

“Self-injury or self-harm is deliberate injury inflicted by a person upon their own body without suicidal intent. Some scholars use more technical definitions related to specific aspects of this behavior. These acts may be aimed at relieving otherwise unbearable emotions, and/or sensations of unreality and numbness. The illness is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) as a symptom of borderline personality disorder and depressive disorders. It is sometimes associated with mental illness, a history of trauma and abuse including emotional abuse, sexual abuse, eating disorders, or mental traits such as low self-esteem or perfectionism, but a statistical analysis is difficult, as many self-injurers conceal their injuries.

“Self harmers are often mistaken as suicidal, but in the majority of cases this is inaccurate. Non-fatal self-harm is common in young people worldwide and due to this prevalence the term self-harm is increasingly used to denote any non-fatal acts of deliberate self-harm, irrespective of the intention.

“There are a number of different treatments available for self-injurers which concentrate on either treating the underlying causes or on treating the behavior itself. When self-injury is associated with depression, antidepressant drugs and treatments may be effective. Alternative approaches involve avoidance techniques, which focus on keeping the self-injurer occupied with other activities, or replacing the act of self-harm with safer methods that do not lead to permanent damage”

Why do they do it?

To better understand the phenomenon, check out these revealing quotes from teens who self-injure. They first appeared in Jane E. Brody’s NY Times piece called “The Growing Wave of Teenage Self Injury.”

“I feel relieved and less anxious after I cut. The emotional pain slowly slips away into the physical pain.”

“It’s a way to have control over my body because I can’t control anything else in my life.”

“It expresses emotional pain or feelings that I’m unable to put into words.”

“I usually feel like I have a black hole in the pit of my stomach. At least if I feel pain it’s better than nothing.”

About 4% of the population engages in self-injury, and it’s equally prevalent in males and females. Untreated depression and other disorders of the brain usually lead people to self-injury as a coping mechanism. It is true that self-injury initially provides relief and release, but can eventually become addictive and increasingly dangerous;l so it’s important to understand that these behaviors pose serious risks, and are likely symptoms of a problem that can be treated.

To clarify, it’s NOT self-injury if your primary purpose is:

• sexual pleasure
• body decoration
• spiritual enlightenment via ritual
• fitting in or being cool

Want to know more?

Some helpful sites include:

S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES®

The American Self Harm Information Clearinghouse

Mental Health America

Dr. Andrew Weil, noted pioneer and expert in integrated medicine, posted an article on OCD last week, on the same day I referenced the disorder here. Seemed more fortuitous than coincidental, so I decided to reprint a portion of his article. If you’d like to read the rest of his informative article, follow the link.

“What is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the anxiety disorders. It is a potentially crippling and chronic condition. The individual who suffers from OCD is caught in a cycle of repetitive thoughts and behaviors that even they often realize are senseless and distressing but that remain extremely difficult to defeat. For many years, mental health professionals thought of OCD as uncommon because only a fraction of their patients had the condition. The disorder often went unrecognized because many of those afflicted with OCD, in efforts to keep their repetitive thoughts and behaviors hidden, failed to seek help. This led to underestimates of the number of people with the illness. However, a survey conducted in the early 1980s by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - the Federal agency that supports research nationwide on the brain, mental illnesses and mental health - provided insight about the prevalence of OCD. The NIMH survey showed that OCD affects more than 2 percent of the population, meaning that OCD is more common than schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or panic disorder. OCD strikes people of all ethnic groups. Males and females are equally affected.

People with OCD should not be confused with a much larger group of individuals who are sometimes called “compulsive” - they hold themselves to a high standard of performance and are perfectionists and very organized in their work and even in recreational activities. This type of “compulsiveness” often serves a valuable purpose, contributing to a person’s self-esteem and success on the job. In that respect, it differs from the obsessions and rituals of the person with OCD, which interfere with daily life.”

What are the varieties of OCD?

What are the causes of OCD?

Who is likely to get OCD?

What are the symptoms of OCD?

How is OCD diagnosed?

What is the conventional treatment of OCD?

How can OCD be prevented?

Read Dr. Weil’s answers to these questions by clicking here.

I began this website, blog and advocacy journey because I’m a mom. I’m a mom of three, two of whom developed a serious mental illness. As our family tackled the challenges of that reality, we learned a lot. Sure, we learned facts and data and medical minutiae, but we learned a whole lot more about love and tolerance, acceptance and gratitude and joy. Big stuff. Good stuff. Real stuff. We are blessed.

The video below, created by my Twitterfriends, Jyl at Mommy Gossip and Carissa at Good and Crazy People, warmly portrays all of that and more.

Enjoy. (And thank you Jyl and Carrissa).

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors like handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed to either prevent obsessive thoughts or make them go away. Performing these “rituals,” however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them dramatically increases anxiety.

After years of research, doctors and scientists have developed effective treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder; and research is yielding new, improved therapies that can help most people with OCD and other anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives.

In a continuing series on mental illness,  Globe and Mail writer Siri Agrell introduces us to Alyse Schacter, a young woman learning to live with OCD and teaching those around her to understand and accept mental illness.

An excerpt from that article is included below. To read it in it’s entirety, follow the link at the end.

“She hears a voice in her head that insists she repeat certain movements and words, and has an irrational sense of urgency that causes her to stop in the middle of a sentence to make sure she hasn’t offended anyone.

But two years ago, she was preparing to hear a voice call her name to a roomful of applause. Alyse was honored by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation’s Courage to Come Back Awards.

Alyse, despite her challenges, has made a mark on her community through her efforts to raise awareness about mental illness, and to convey to other kids that “you can still be normal even if you’re being weird.”

Click here to learn more about Alyse and OCD.

Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness. They strike as many as one in eight North Americans over the course of a lifetime, compared with one in 12 for major depression and one in 100 for schizophrenia.

Social anxiety, the extreme fear of negative evaluation, is the most prevalent form of the disorder. Up to 13 per cent of the population suffers from it, according to psychiatrist Neil Rector, head of the anxiety disorders program at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Despite these huge numbers, social anxiety remains one of the least understood psychiatric conditions and is often the most often ignored.

To better understand the incredible challenge extreme anxiety presents to its sufferers, read the story of Gail Andrews, written by Globe and Mail’s Carolyn Abraham. You’ll learn about the roots, appearance and consequences of her illness. She’ll share triggers, coping mechanisms and strategies to live by. You’ll find an excerpt below as well as a link to the full article.

“It was in the year leading up to her 50th birthday that Gail “took stock” of her life and decided it was time. There was plenty to admire at her half-century mark. She and the man she had lived with for 12 years shared a comfortable home together. She had worked her way up to senior executive at one of the world’s largest accounting firms. She was fit, a long-distance cyclist, as lean and strong as any woman half her age. She was an accomplished musician. She was well-read, trilingual, witty, articulate and pleasant, always pleasant. Not even her dear brother saw through the camouflage hiding the war within.”

Want to read this amazing woman’s full story? Click here.

Susan and Jay Bigelow delighted in their son, and he in them. Their life was normal and joyful and filled with possibility. And then Jesse changed. Read the excerpt below from and article written by Globe and Mail’s Erinn Andersenn. To hear the Bigelow’s tell the story of Jesse’s decline into the abyss of schizophrenia and eventual return, click here.

“On a September evening almost nine years ago, Susan and Jay Bigelow called 911, then sat down to dinner in their Toronto home, waiting for the police to come and take away the stranger at the dining-room table who was once their son.

For 19 years, they had raised a cheerful, outgoing boy named Jesse Bigelow, who had lots of friends, was chased by girls and sang in a rock band called, in an odd foreshadowing, Mental Distortion. Jay had coached his hockey teams and travelled with him to soccer tournaments. Jesse wasn’t the perfect kid: He threw more tantrums than his older sister, Melissa, had. His marks were mediocre. And his parents knew that he smoked pot with his friends. But he was a typical, loud, athletic boy and, even as a teenager, he welcomed a hug from his mom.

Then, slowly, helplessly, they watched Jesse Bigelow vanish, as surely as if he had been kidnapped. They didn’t recognize the shaggy, bearded intruder who now lay like a zombie in the bedroom upstairs and ranted at them about God.

Want to read the rest?

Click here.