Posted by tinydancer on September 2, 2004, at 13:08:49
In reply to Urges, posted by rockymtnhi on September 2, 2004, at 10:41:36
Hi Rocky. I'm in treatment for self injury myself, amongst other things, hopefully I can answer some of your questions to some degree for you.
Self injury is very ritualistic, so that when you experience a trigger (whatever that may be for you) you will automatically focus on the places that you perhaps have hurt before. The whole ritual of self injury is the essence of its addictive quality. Self injury to the arms is very common, I think one of the most common places amongst self injurers.
Are you wondering about why you had an urge in the first place to cut your arm, and cut off your hair, or why you continue to want to injure those areas? Logically I think that the arm is a common place because its the most visible to us.
Cutting your hair is symbolic for women, definitley, as Dinah said. It's sort of a way to destroy our femininity, repress or deny our femininity, or even as a way to detach from an event or relationship. It's like shedding skin. Or even a way to spite another person, even yourself, if you have beautiful long locks, its a form of punishment if you force yourself to cut it off.
When you have the urges, what do you feel like right before? What are the actual feelings, if you can name them, that you are experiencing?
poster:tinydancer
thread:385649
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040828/msgs/385704.html