...'cept for me 'n my minky.
Posted on 06/04/2006 11:46:43 PM PDT by bd476
Yes. But once they get over the hurdle of self-inflicted pain, their thought processes are scrambled enough that cutting or some other pathological reaction to stress is the easy way out. Even after they stop, you will often find them doing stupid things to avoid stress and commitment, for example, sabotaging new relationships and sabotaging their career so they can move back in with their parents.
I've also seen a lot more "self abuse" than what this author talks about.
17% doesn't pass the sniff test. Note that this is a "prevalance estimate".
Don't cry, emo kid.
Well, the survey was taken amongst Princeton and Cornell undergrads, who are a pretty wierd group to being with. If the author was not too particular about how he sampled, for instance, if he asked students hanging around a particular kind of club, I could see him getting that kind of number. But it ain't scientific, by a long shot.
If course, to my mind, anybody who lives in Ithaca is somewhat self-destructive to begin with...
IMO, about the same as the percentage of owners of at least one functional hand.
Robert A. Cook, PE wrote: "But are these liberals at these national colleges = our 'elite'?"
The answer of course depends upon your definition of elite.
If a female student attended Dana Hall School, Wellesley, Massachusetts, a well heeled boarding school for girls prior to her admission to Cornell University, the female student's family would need to have at least a handshaking acquaintance with some one or other's elite to afford Dana Hall School's tuition of $37,000 per year or $111,000 tuition for grades 9 through 12.
According to the article, it's actually more like 12% who did it more than once.
I think the courses at MIT the first two years are pass/fail.
OTOH, self mutilation is preferable to wasting the roomie(s), then offing one's self.
If my parents had named me Rodey, I'd do worse than self-mutilate.
Great. Another person to claim victim status for the rest of her life. What's with all this "struggle" crap? They are at some of the most elite schools in the world with plenty of opportunity, yet they need sympathy for their "condition."
Their brain has been more or less permanently altered to figure out easy ways to avoid stress. Self-inflicted pain might be out for now, but they will manifest some other self-destructive behavior in stressful situations that they can't control. While they will rationally understand that their behavior is/was bad, they will be unable to stop themselves from doing it.
Why all the fussing around with cutting? Just hit yourself in the head with a hammer as hard as you can. Keep doing it until you can't do it anymore. Maybe they will do enough brain damage to not have to worry about this stupid cutting crap anymore.
17% doesn't pass the sniff test.
I don't believe the 17% figure. One in six?
The figure is entirely believable, considering the amount of coverage self-injury has received in the past five years. I don't know if it's necessarily "group think", but it has been put "out there" for young people to consider.
What a bunch of idiots. There are more effective ways of dealing with stress. When I was in college I didn't have time to be stressed...I was too busy working and studying, since I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
Hmmm, more effective ways than an endorphine rush? Really? Self-injury may not be the best coping mechanism, but it is effective. Very. Otherwise people wouldn't stick with it.
I understand the comment about the silver spoon because these are Ivy League colleges, but what if I told you the number is likely the same at nearly any university in the US? And, that self-injury is just as likely in students who aren't affluent?
Glad it was so easy for you, but as you've probably noticed, not everyone is wired like you are.
It doesn't make them idiots, it makes them different.
...'cept for me 'n my minky.
The figure is entirely believable
Dang! And I already sold my beach front property up by Kingman, AZ.
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