Aspergers and Self Harm article
Yeah, well it´s not against the law. But, it could give the "government" enough reason to commit you to a hospital against your will, leaning on a law about forced mental health treatment. But you already knew that, right?
I´m just looking out for you, making sure you don´t do anything stupid. You are not going to be "happy" in a hospital, not as "happy" as you are in your own home.
i started self-harming around 6 years ago and it has got worse since then. i do control it better now. i only do it badly when i'm going through a stressful situation or i'm going throgh depression. it was incredibly tough when my parents found out and never thought that i was the type of person to do that sort of thing.
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it's easier to critize somebody else than to see yourself!
I don't draw clear line between various methods individuals use to cope with distress, the categories blur/blend together in my mind, according to my perspective. These are all variations on "self-regulatory" actions, each person has their own ways that work to some extent-or are the only ones available in their situation, for the time being.
Thus, this topic reminds me of a thread on substance abuse (in which I posted):
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt71426.html
http://members.tripod.com/~Chrisfreu/ot ... roject.htm
This is a stretch, pure speculation, but I'll throw it out here for the heck of it:
Sometimes watch A&E series "Intervention"-and I wonder if any of those people have undiagnosed sensory (modulation, processing, integration) problems that no one's paying any attention to. Not saying it seems likely for many of them, but just that it's a possibility for a few. Such an issue can seem invisible if you aren't looking for it & aren't aware that sensory problems could be at root of other acquired problems that happen along the way.
For example, I smoke cigarettes because I hate the taste & smell of most foods, so it's actually useful for me to dull my hypersensitive sensory perceptions. Hardly a healthy habit, but am explaining that this is one of the (several, varied) reasons. Others wouldn't likely be able to figure out my motivation, because most of them like food tastes & smells-they wouldn't understand what extra factor was "rewarding" or reinforcing to me, about this bad habit.
Anyway, trying to cope with emotions using self-injury doesn't really work. It just helps for a half hour (or whatever length of time), and then you're right back to the emotions again. Same with overload. But there's no denying that if your brain's wired just right, you will benefit from it for that short time. People do things for a reason, and self-injury always has a reason behind it.
I'm not recommending SI, obviously; it just seems to be something autistics resort to more often than NTs.
Good points.
In the thread to which I linked above, I also made this elaborate disclaimer:
Again, my agenda is not to promote or discourage a behavior (whether to use or to abstain, from coffee or cigarettes, et al), sharing information is my goal. It's up to each individual to make choice based on his/her unique combination of variables, as to what is "right" for him/her, then & there (as one's answer-yes or no to this or that-may change over time & across circumstance/setting).
I've been a self-injurer to some degree in past-I still have the urges/impulses, but am less able to carry them out. Part of it is merely aging & decaying, which has made me less able to derive gratification (relief from mental pain, pleasant distraction, release of tension) from cutting or the like. It worked better before my body started to fall apart on its own.
Also, having a couple counselors that I talk with on regular basis (in the few years since I got this dx) has helped me have some outlet for my out-of-control emotional states & seemingly unsolvable problems. Gotts' admit that it's nice to have an online forum where I can read & write at any time of day, as my problems don't happen only during business hours,-usually the hardest times, psychologically, are weekends at 3 a.m. (when no one I know is awake).
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*"I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't."*
My self-injury was more related to emotional pain. On a sensory level, it was very hard to actually carry out because I'm extremely hypersensitive. I can't even stand a small particle in my sock and things like mild pressure on my skin feels painful, etc. For me it was more related to overwhelming feelings. When I made it physical, it redirected the pain into something I could more tolerate and also do something about. I would have never resorted to this had there not been so much emotional pain at work, because of sensory sensitivity.
The opposite may be true for those who have hyposensitivity and may use it as a technique in order to feel.
"No turning back" wouldn't mean you'd do it constantly all your life. It does mean that most people who have a habit of SI do have temptations to do it even after they stop. It's probably a bit like quitting smoking. And the arguments for never hurting yourself for the first time are probably similar to the arguments I could give for not smoking your first cigarette.
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Reports from a Resident Alien:
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com
Autism Memorial:
http://autism-memorial.livejournal.com
Yeah, well it´s not against the law. But, it could give the "government" enough reason to commit you to a hospital against your will, leaning on a law about forced mental health treatment. But you already knew that, right?
I´m just looking out for you, making sure you don´t do anything stupid. You are not going to be "happy" in a hospital, not as "happy" as you are in your own home.
Not to start wank or anything, but PLEASE don't call SI stupid. For those who need it, stupid is the last thing it is, and it finds that really condescending. Say dangerous, or risky or whatever, but please don't call SI stupid.
sinsboldly
Veteran
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon
I do the same thing for poison oak (we have it west of the Rockies in the States). Hot water does something akin to orgasmic excitement, unfortunately with out the orgasmic release, but it is its own catharsis.
Merle
_________________
Alis volat propriis
State Motto of Oregon
steelback
Deinonychus
Joined: 23 Dec 2006
Age: 53
Gender: Male
Posts: 332
Location: Windsor, Ontario, Canada
I once deliberately whacked myself in the head with my cane in the hope that it would drive the negative thoughts from my head, and because I wondered what it would feel like, since so many people do hurt themselves on purpose. It didn't work, and it hurt, but I wonder if the urge to do it again might still be in there somewhere.
sinsboldly
Veteran
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon
I have screamed until my throat was raw and ached and hurt and I couldn't talk. I have often felt like banging my head like the little kids with the helmets in the grainy films of Kanner's Autism research, but it only seems to happen when I am in public, like at the office or at a grocery store. I did sit down on the floor of a grocery store once when I waited far too long to get something to eat, and the sheer enormity of the task of buying tomato soup, taking it home and heating it up and then eating it was just too much for me to handle.
wow, and I had no idea why that was happening, either. It didn't happen to people I knew, and the look on the young shelf stocker peering at me around the corner told me it was inappropriate.
Other than that, self injury was always grand scale.
Merle
_________________
Alis volat propriis
State Motto of Oregon
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