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Afflictions of The Soul: The Truth Behind Self-Injury

Copyright, Lauren Morante

Bibliography

Appendix: Explanation of Theory

I received a few emails/posts in response to a particular part of the report, the theory of self-injury being a “drug addiction”. In response, I post this page.

The idea for this particular theory came from an interview I performed with a school counsellor from the local high school who came in frequent contact with teens who self-injured. So as far as secondary resources go, I’m not able to cite any for you. But that’s not to say that they aren’t out there.

My theory of self-injury being addiction, was not particularly well explained in my report. If I had more time, more caffine and was a hell of a lot more awake than what I was I would have thought to have gone more in depth. But I will explain my theory further for you now.

It’s the same as any “addiction” really. With every person it’s different. Take alcohol for example. Most people (as far as I know) gradually build up a tolerance to it. Binge drinkers who drink for the sake of getting drunk will get resistance from their bodies after a while. The first time they ever drank, they were trashed after one. Then the next time it took them two drinks before they were on the floor, then three, then four, and so on and so forth. Thus, meaning they must consume more alcohol to achieve their desired state of being. I see it the same in many cases of self-injury.

With most drugs, the body will gradually build up a resistance to it (heroin addicts etc.), and endorphins are a mood altering chemical. As I stated in the report, when the body is injured the brain releases endorphins into the system to prevent the body from going into shock, to calm it down, and also to aid in the healing process. This is where the physical aspect of self-harm comes into play. It’s why people feel so relaxed or less stressed or even, happy after they have performed such an act. because their endorphin enriched blood stream is now racing to repair the body. Once the body begins to build up resistance however, the people must harm themselves for longer and more severely in order to achieve their desired “high”. But, like all addictions, every person is different and this theory does not apply to everyone.

I hope I haven’t confused anyone here…

Bibliography

 

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