Female habitual self‐mutilators

TLDR

Typical female habitual self‑mutilators are often young adults, such as a 28‑year‑old Caucasian who began cutting at 14, use multiple methods, experience impulsive relief from anxiety and dissociation, and frequently have comorbid eating or substance use disorders with limited treatment response. The study reports on 240 female habitual self‑mutilators, noting that the prototypical case has attempted suicide via drug overdose.

Abstract

ABSTRACT– Data are presented on 240 female habitual self‐mutilators. The typical subject is a 28‐year‐old Caucasian who first deliberately harmed herself at age 14. Skin cutting is her usual practice, but she has used other methods such as skin burning and self‐hitting, and she has injured herself on at least 50 occasions. Her decision to self‐mutilate is impulsive and results in temporary relief from symptoms such as racing thoughts, depersonalization, and marked anxiety. She now has or has had an eating disorder, and may be concerned about her drinking. She has been a heavy utilizer of medical and mental health services, although treatment generally has been unsatisfactory. In desperation over her inability to control her self‐mutilative behavior this typical subject has attempted suicide by a drug overdose.