Black Girls Cut Too: Self-Harm and Intergenerational Trauma

Non-suicidal Self-injury/cutting is the term used to explain deliberately harming your own body, like cutting or burning yourself. It is done to cope with emotional traumas, anger, and frustration.Self-injury/cutting is the act of deliberately hurting yourself. You may carve something on your skin, burn yourself, hit yourself, or pierce your skin with sharp objects.When talking about childhood trauma and grief, clinicians have really been referring to this as a silent epidemic, and that’s because so many of the mental and behavioral health struggles that we see today are really rooted in traumas and losses. Trauma is the experience of a real or perceived threat to life or bodily injury to a loved one or to themselves, and this causes an overwhelming sense of terror, horror, helplessness and fear.  Theses childhood traumas eventually become adult traumas, if they aren't addressed appropriately.  We know relationship challenges are most likely being a trigger for deaths or attempted suicides and self-injury. We continue the stressed need for schools, law enforcement agencies, families and youth to, collaboratively, reverse a spiral of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders that raise suicide risks, and self-harmful behaviors. Emergency room visits for suicidal thoughts and self-injury are on the rise, with Black girls and LGBTQ youth experiencing record rates of self-injury and death by suicide.  Treating self-injury might take time, but it is curable. Anxiety can trigger depression and other behavioral, physical, and mental health issues. It is especially hard if you are dealing with other personal, work, relationship, or family-related issues. Please be aware that it is okay to ask for help.