Room at the Top

“She shoved it back into her skin again and again down and down, plunging at herself. The pain was immediate, a pure, straightforward kind of hurt. It felt right. It felt better.”

How could this feel right, how does anyone become so distorted that this kind of pain begins to feel right? For Hen it does as she repeatedly is cutting herself throughout the story, it is an escape for her, a way to cope with her low self-esteem. In a website I found http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,718183,00.html the topic of cutting is discussed and the subject hits Hen’s case right on the nose. The page talks about the fact that many young teenage girls are cutting themselves, they are looking for some sort of escape as it explains, “Adolescents have always been known to self-harm, to attack their own bodies in a cry for help and as a sign of psychological disturbance. They may become anorexic or bulimic.” Every part of this quote describes Hen in a nutshell, so the question is how doe we fix a problem such as this one? Well that is a dilemma as it is often difficult to discover a teenager who is cutting their self. On another website I found http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/cutting.html there is a list of ways in which the cutter can get help, however that means the cutter must make the decision which often does not happen. The last advice for teachers, friends, and family is to keep a close eye on any teen that seems to be having troubles, maybe they are quiet or withdrawn, maybe seeming depressed or showing signs of an eating disorder. Another key indicator is clothing. Hen often wore clothing that covered her entire body as many cutters do, in order to cover their scars. So if a teenager is wearing winter-like clothing in early June there might be a problem. In any case it is important that friends and family do their best to keep adolescents form taking their inner-conflicts too far.