My friend cuts...

[onlyiknow75]

Hi. my friend cuts herself but she never tries to hide it (never wears long sleeve shirts) and so i dont know whats going on. she has all these cuts on her left arm which look pretty new and faded ones on her right arm.. and she even carved a star on to her left wrist.. i dont know if she's doing this because shes depressed or just because she likes it.. shes always so happy and stuff.. so i dont know. should i talk to her about it? thanks!

 

[David Baxter PhD]

my friend cuts...HELP

I have been hearing recently up here in Canada about a new and I think dangerous fad among certain groups of teens which involves cutting, not for the reasons "true cutters" do it but because it is considered cool. I guess it's seen as sort of an extension of tatoos and body-piercing...

Your friend may be among that group, rather than someone who is cutting to get rid of pent-up anger or other suppressed feelings. Of course, the fact that she seems happy may be an illusion -- many people are quite good at hiding their feelings from others, even people quite close to them.

If you are concerned about her, and you feel you have a close enough relationship with her to ask a personal question of that nature, I would think there's no harm in asking the question. If she brushes your question away, don't push it.