Survey: 'Cutting' phenomenon widespread By Danielle Ameden, Daily News Correspondent 06/06/2006

Local psychologists and school guidance counselors say growing numbers of stressed-out young people deliberately cut or injure themselves, a disturbing phenomenon backed up by a survey at two Ivy League schools.
   Self-mutilation "unequivocally" exists at Marlborough High School, said guidance Director Robert Berardino.
   "It's an issue," he said.
   According to the survey, nearly one in five students at Princeton and Cornell universities "cut" or injure themselves. Counselors say it is happening at colleges, high schools and middle schools across the country.
   Brianna, a freshman at Framingham High School, admitted she used to "cut" herself to cope with pressure from school and home life.
   "I never thought I would. It's totally stupid to do it. At the time, when you're really upset, you don't think right. (Cutting) makes you feel relieved, but then you feel stupid," said the student, whose last name was withheld to protect her identity.
   The teenager said she began cutting in eighth grade after learning about the technique through word-of-mouth from her classmates. She said besides homework and tests, her parents' divorce created additional stress in her life.
   "They always put me in the middle," she said.
   She credits her parents and friends with helping her realize she had a problem.
   "They thought I needed help."
   The Cornell-Princeton study found 17 percent of the 2,875 undergraduate and graduate students surveyed had engaged in self-mutilation.
   According to theAssociated Press, separate research found more than 400 Web sites devoted to the subject, including many that glorify self-injury. Some worry that many sites serve as an online subculture that fuels the behavior -- although whether there has been an increase in the practice or just more awareness is unclear.
   According to 2003 Youth Behavior Risk Survey results, 18 percent of Massachusetts students had intentionally cut, burned or bruised themselves within the last year. The 2003 report is the latest available.
   Barent Walsh, executive director of the nonprofit human service agency The Bridge of Central Massachusetts in Worcester, took part in the Ivy League survey. He has been studying cutting since the 1980s. Over two decades, he has watched the local and national phenomenon grow.
   "People that used to self-injure were those who had a lot of adverse experiences (like abuse and trauma) in their lives," Walsh said. Now the phenomenon is "commonplace in the general population," affecting people "who are much less compromised."
   Marlborough's Berardino said he believes an attitude of "I have to attain perfection" is what leads many young people to self-mutilation.
   "Many are over-scheduled with too many activities that can be considered competitive," Walsh said. "A lot of these kids are stressed-out and don't have good self-soothing skills."
   A cut represents the kids "oozing out the pain," Berardino said. "It's almost like a manifestation of (the pressure) they're feeling."
   According to Walsh, people cut in an attempt to regulate emotional distress.
   "They aren't trying to kill themselves but they are trying to reduce their emotional pain," he said.
   He said the phenomenon is propelled when kids tell their friends about cutting, show off their wounds and scars, and participate in online message boards and chat rooms.
   In March, Marlborough High invited Walsh to speak about the cutting phenomenon during a professional training day. He said local educators have been "very interested in the topic. (They are) puzzled by the fact that kids who have a lot of strengths are harming themselves."
   Reyad Shar, a Framingham junior, said he believes people cut for attention.
   "People do it just because they aren't secure with themselves. They do it just to get attention," Shar said.
   Eric Friedberg, a 1986 graduate of Framingham North High School, agrees.
   "It's just people crying out for attention. Every generation has some way of crying out for help. At least it's a visual mark for a parent to see 'my child might need help.'"
   Brianna said she has triumphed over cutting because she now realizes how "stupid" it was.
   She believes that the problem is still affecting many of her classmates, "even people you think are really popular and do sports. You'd be surprised who does it."