Self Mutilation to the Extreme

Self-Mutilation to the Extreme

What exactly is self mutilation? Well, the definition most people agree with is that it is a set of compulsive behaviors aimed to self-inflict wounds for numerous reasons. There is a popular belief that self mutilation is nothing more than an attention seeking practice, but many psychiatrists today agree that a majority of those who possess this behavior are well aware of the risks they are subjecting themselves to and that a lot of individuals take precautionary measures to assure the wounds are not visible for others to see, and go to extraordinary lengths to try and hide them. And it is agreeable that suicide is not associated to the majority of these types of behaviors, as many people self-inflict harm for pleasure, to suppress certain emotions, to punish oneself and some even claim that it is an obsessive desire to feel pain and see their own blood dripping from their flesh.

No matter how we look at it and the conclusions we draw, self mutilation appears to be on the rise as many of it’s practitioners are creating websites, blogs and forums to illustrate this behavior, to explain their reasons for such actions and some to even encourage this practice. For example, self mutilation is widely associated to women (and men) who suffer from both Bulimia and Anorexia as a means to control appetite or punishment for overeating.

But obviously there are those who do it merely for show-off purposes, like the emos, at least a huge part of them (I never really understood the connotation between the emos and self mutilation, but I strongly believe these ones do it just to show their friends how ‘dark’ and ‘cool’ they are, probably engaging in cutting orgies in cemeteries). Now, I understand people who do it to suppress emotions, who are undergoing times of distress such as the loss of someone close to them, and even those who do it because they enjoy the pain (endorphins are released when extreme pain occurs in order to numb it down, as I’ve mentioned in the past) but keep it to themselves. What I can’t stand is the fucking show-offs who make these tiny incisions in the wrist and make sure that it is widely visible for everyone to see “hey look, look how emo and depressed I am, gimme attention”. Your mother must be so proud of you…

Then there are those who do it as a precursor to suicide. Trying to gain the courage to find just the right vein and go all the way.

Well, regardless of the perception we have of self mutilation, one thing is certain, the people in these photos surely meant business. I have no idea how they could do it without using pain killers. Makes you twist uh?