[<1/1,000,000th%]

Since the disorder was identified two months ago, at least six other hospitals have reported similar cases, Shiels said, and a national registry is being set up to monitor the cases.

All this effort for a few dozen cases.

Good thing they didn't do this with AIDS.

[Unassuaged]

I think this is a larger phenomenon that the hospital patient numbers may suggest. This was going on (actually cutting and rubbing ashes in the wound was happening in 1985) for a while. Mostly for kids suffering abuse or neglect — the numbness required to endure abuse leaves kids feeling “dead”, and self-inflicted pain makes them feel “alive” and also allows them some control over their lives, from their point of view.