The Syndrome of the Wrist Cutter

[David Baxter PhD]

The Syndrome of the Wrist Cutter (Graff, Mallin 1967)
Florida Borderline Personality Disorder Association
November 16, 2008

The following is a brief excerpt from an article in the July 1967 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry:

In the past several years wrist slashers have become the new chronic patients in mental hospitals, replacing the schizophrenics. Emphasizing this change, Ewalt (7) stated that ?Our long difficult cases increasingly consist of the character and personality disorders, the wrist slashers, the promiscuous, the improvident and lazy, and the aggressive reactions. We must learn to care for them. . .? The difficulty in treating wrist slashers demands closer attention to the causes and possible means of therapy.​

Results:

In summary, the cutter is an attractive, intelligent, unmarried young woman, who is either promiscuous or overly afraid of sex, easily addicted, and unable to relate successfully to others. She is an older one in a group of siblings with a cold, domineering mother and a withdrawn, passive, hypercritical father. She slashes her wrists indiscriminately and repeatedly at the slightest provocation, but she does not commit suicide. She feels relief with the commission of her act.​

Summary:

We have presented our observations that wrist cutters have a common behavior pattern. This pattern, stemming from early maternal deprivation, is imbedded in their inability to give and receive verbal communications meaningfully. Therapy is directed at fostering development of more mature methods of giving and receiving love.​

If you would like a copy of this article, please e-mail me at amanda. smith(at)fbpda.org. This article can also be purchased on-line or obtained through your school or local library?s inter-library loan program.