A Case Study

1/12/05 Irene wore long sleeves and dozens of black rubber wrist bands to cover the cuts on her arms, to hide her secret obsession.
Barricaded in her room, in the shower, in school bathroom stalls, or in the back of classrooms, the 18-year-old Lompoc High School senior would pull out her mint tin, remove a razor and slice through her skin, dripping the blood onto tissue so it wouldn't stain anything.



At the height of her habit, Irene made incisions up to three times a day. At one point, she had 60 cuts on her arm.
Irene, who asked that her last name not be used, is a "cutter," a person who self-inflicts cuts onto their body as an emotional coping mechanism.
Her foray into self-mutilation was with fire as an eighth-grader, following the lead of her cousin who burned smiley faces into her own skin. Eventually, the pain from eraser burns and heated objects wasn't quick enough, and Irene moved on to razor blades.
She started with her arms and progressed to the legs, slicing deeper and deeper to compensate for her increasing tolerance of pain and to maintain the same endorphin-rush.
 

This was taken from the website: http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2005/01/13/news/news11.txt

Honors 210

"This site was created for an honors course at Monmouth College by students."