It seems everything is linked to eating disorders these days, and now there is a U.S. study that says there is a connection between eating disorders in young adults and self-injury behaviors like cutting.
Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine reviewed 1,500 patients ages 10 to 21 who were diagnosed with an eating disorder at a clinic.
Researchers said that nearly 41 percent admitted to cutting themselves.
Health experts said the discovery confirms a long-suspected connection between the eating disorders and self-injury.
The researchers say that eating soothes the anxiety, but creates a new set of problems.
When they eat, they worry about becoming fat, then they cut themselves to resolve that, because cutting produces endorphins that produce an anti-anxiety effect.
Study author Dr. Rebecka Peebles, said, "We do know that self-injurious behaviors happen more in adolescents with other issues, such as mood disorders or drug abuse, and people with eating disorders often have the same symptoms, so it makes more sense to screen more universally,"
It seems kids who cut themselves do so because they believe it helps with coping and obtaining control over their emotional pain.
Self harm may be connected with eating disorders, but it's much more than that.
Cutters are usually sensitive, perfectionists overachievers. "The self-injury begins as a defense against what's going on in their family, in their lives," according to Karen Conterio, author of the book, Bodily Harm. "They have failed in one area of their lives, so this is a way to get control."
Psychiatrists say kids with emotional problems find solace cutting themselves because self-injury has an effect similar to cocaine and other drugs that release feel-good endorphins.
Triggers for self-harm can be bullying, bereavement, pressure at work, abuse, financial problems, pressure to fit in and relationship problems.
When these pressures build up, it can seem impossible difficult to cope, everything seems to be out of control.
If you can't have control over what's happening around you, you can at least have control what you do to yourself, so you cut.
Cutters probably already realize that self harm, overeating, or drugs doesn't fix anything.
But you can gain real control by reaching out for help and from the positive support of family and friends.
Autobiography in Five Chapters
by Portia Nelson
Chapter One:
I walk down the street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I’m lost.
I’m helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter Two:
I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter Three:
I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I fall in.
It’s a habit.
But my eyes are open.
It is my fault and I get out immediately.
Chapter Four:
I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter Five:
I try walking down a different street.
