{"id":6285,"date":"2014-06-02T07:30:55","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T11:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=6285"},"modified":"2014-06-02T07:29:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T11:29:54","slug":"do-you-really-understand-what-leads-a-teen-to-cut-or-self-injure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/06\/do-you-really-understand-what-leads-a-teen-to-cut-or-self-injure.html","title":{"rendered":"Do You Really Understand What Leads a Teen to Cut or Self-Injure?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/images\/agree-terms.php?id=100105046\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6286 alignleft\" alt=\"Teen girl\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2014\/05\/ID-100105046-199x300.jpg\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Test your knowledge on self-injury: Take the True or False\u00a0Quiz\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Self-injury is:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1) A suicidal behavior.<\/strong> False. It is\u00a0an attempt to self-soothe, control emotions, communicate what is difficult to say, or control and punish oneself through trauma reenactment.\u00a0It helps a teen avoids suicidal feelings that are unbearable. This is an attempt to stay alive, to stay connected to something and not check out for good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2) An addiction.<\/strong> False. \u00a0It is\u00a0addictive-like in that it helps people feel better, though temporary, and it often increases in severity and intensity over time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3) Any\u00a0type of physical harm<\/strong>. False. The thing that distinguishes self-injury from other forms of physical harm is the elevated mood a teen experiences after self-injury.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4)\u00a0A behavior that means a person is psychotic.<\/strong> False. The person is in her right mind but tormented with issues enacted through self-harm.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5) More than an attention getter.<\/strong> True. Some people think this is just a way to get attention when actually it is a cry for help and indicative of emotional pain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6) A way to feel alive.<\/strong> \u00a0True.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>It breaks emotional numbness and reconnects the person to her body after a dissociative experience. She feels something, often feels alive due to the physical pain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7)\u00a0A sign that a teen can\u2019t feel pain<\/strong>. False. \u00a0Even though the self-injurer may not feel pain while inflicting the wound, he or she will feel pain afterward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8) A way to express what can&#8217;t be spoken.<\/strong> True. Even though this is indirect communication, self-injury communicates a need.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9) A form of self-loathing<\/strong>. True.\u00a0<strong><\/strong>It serves as a punishment for having strong (usually negative) feelings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10) Something that a teen will typically outgrow.<\/strong> False. The teen needs help and new coping skills taught. \u00a0The most effective treatment is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). In the DBT model, self-injury is viewed as an ineffective way to solve problems. Therefore, the goal of DBT is to stop self-injury, and teach better problem-solving and distress tolerance. It is a structured treatment that incorporates cognitive-behavioral therapy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Test your knowledge on self-injury: Take the True or False\u00a0Quiz\u00a0 Self-injury is: 1) A suicidal behavior. False. It is\u00a0an attempt to self-soothe, control emotions, communicate what is difficult to say, or control and punish oneself through trauma reenactment.\u00a0It helps a teen avoids suicidal feelings that are unbearable. This is an attempt to stay alive, to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[1949,2081,1950,2912],"class_list":["post-6285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-cutting","tag-emotional-pain","tag-self-injury","tag-teen-girls-and-cutting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do You Really Understand What Leads a Teen to Cut or Self-Injure?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/06\/do-you-really-understand-what-leads-a-teen-to-cut-or-self-injure.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Really Understand What Leads a Teen to Cut or Self-Injure?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Test your knowledge on self-injury: Take the True or False\u00a0Quiz\u00a0 Self-injury is: 1) A suicidal behavior. False. It is\u00a0an attempt to self-soothe, control emotions, communicate what is difficult to say, or control and punish oneself through trauma reenactment.\u00a0It helps a teen avoids suicidal feelings that are unbearable. This is an attempt to stay alive, to&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/06\/do-you-really-understand-what-leads-a-teen-to-cut-or-self-injure.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-02T11:30:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-02T11:29:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/05\/ID-100105046-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do You Really Understand What Leads a Teen to Cut or Self-Injure?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/06\/do-you-really-understand-what-leads-a-teen-to-cut-or-self-injure.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do You Really Understand What Leads a Teen to Cut or Self-Injure?","og_description":"Test your knowledge on self-injury: Take the True or False\u00a0Quiz\u00a0 Self-injury is: 1) A suicidal behavior. False. It is\u00a0an attempt to self-soothe, control emotions, communicate what is difficult to say, or control and punish oneself through trauma reenactment.\u00a0It helps a teen avoids suicidal feelings that are unbearable. 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Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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