Every girl I knew in high school who cut herself immediately stopped cutting when she discovered MDMA (ecstasy). MDMA blocks the reuptake of 5-HT (serotonin), similarly to SSRI (serotonin specific reuptake inhibiting) anti-depressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline, and paroxetine.

Just a thought I had as I was reading.

Just like blaming cold mothers for autism. Almost every girl fights with her mother. That makes her female. That doesn't impact cutting.

I'll bet if they were asked about boyfriemds and conflict you get the same result.

Dear Lord.

Most likely it's a feedback loop (and one of many) in which the daughter acts out in response to relationship strain and so the relationship becomes more strained and so the daughter acts out and so the relationship becomes more strained ...

chicken, egg, blah blah blah

Cast from the other side of the story, the problem isn't that there's a strained relationship, or that there's something wrong with the mother. The problem is that the teenager doesn't know how to cope with strained relationships or problems with her mother.

What's the psychology to the act itself? Is it about the pain, or is it a way of punishing oneself, or what?

It's absurd to choose one issue - mother-daughter conflict - out of the many and varied sources of adolescent pain, investigate that issue and then conclude that it's the trigger for cutting. Had they chosen to focus on problems with boyfriends/girlfriends, peer issues, academic problems, father-daughter conflicts, etc. would the results have been any different.

They also conflate cutting and suicide attempts which are two separate issues, both serious but not the same thing.

There is an established correlative link between cutting and conflict or chaos within the family...no surprise that focusing on a specific relationship within the family will reflect that.

Interesting that TCF's critical take on how this study will be used in the MSM is headed "Why girls cut themselves." (Read here, to find out that some people are suggesting it's moms!) Takes a bit of the bite out of your point, doesn't it, when you do the same thing?

Well, they don't really conflate suicide and self-injury, as much as say that the latter is a risk factor for suicide attempts. I think this is statistically true, although suicide collects risk factors like stamp collectors collect stamps. Of course I agree with you that self-injury and suicide are most definitely not the same phenomenon. I hope, and actually believe, that most researchers and clinicians know that by now.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

37 girls is a pretty small sample pool from which to extrapolate data.

Mothers are overwhelmingly the primary caregivers, so I'm not bothered by the study from that perspective. It makes since to see if there's a connection between being a cutter and the relationship with the primary caregiver. However, it'd be interesting to see a study where they look at it that way and then parse out differences if the primary caregiver is a mother, a father, or other.

None of it makes much sense... neither supposition. Regarding seratonin, since seratonin is significant for feeling 'well-being' and people with seratonin or norepinephrine defficiencies are depressed, clearly you are saying that depressed people are more likely to be cutters... which is hardly shocking. I assume cutters are depressed.

Nor is there any causality that can be attached to the mother-daughter relationship, since a troubled youth is more likeley to have bahavior problems that could cause the strained parental relationship. So there is nothing to suggest that if mothers specifically went out of their way to be closer to teir daughters that any reduction in cutting would occur.

There may be a relationship, but without identifying causality, it is hard to conclude much from the study.

This is an overdetermined (many causes) phenomenon. There is no direct correlation between mother and self-cutting as there might be between serotonin and self-cutting and no clear lines between mother and serotonin levels. Also, the diagnostic categories are not really clear. I would love to see a clear diagnostic determination according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria (as determined by the SADS clinical interview) and self-cutting. For instance, there are borderline diagnosed self-cutters and borderline non-self-cutters. There are non-borderline self-cutters and non-borderline non-self-cutters. Very often depressives are self-cutters as well. It may be a minor suicidal act that prevents more serious ones.

I want to see the entire research report before I reach any conclusions about it.

1. If this BS theory were true I'd have scars all over me. I've had a complex relationship with my mom but I've never cut myself. The idea of cutting myself is horrific!

2. My young daughter is as close to her father as to me.

When will we stop funding of useless studies? Maybe we could put these people to work on fixing bridges or something much more useful! I'm tired of reading about this and that study: one day tomatoes are good for you - next they might cause instant insanity whathaveyou.

Well, in the case of eating disorders, from what I have seen and what I have heard from various therapists and workers, a girl's relationship with her dad has absolutely enormous impacts. I'm not aware of any research though.

I have never understood the uproar about cutting. It involves making small, superficial fleshwounds that cause light scars. These girls aren't cutting deep into their vascular or muscular systems or causing any kind of real harm, besides the scars. All the girls I knew in high school who cut most definitely did it at least partially out some sort of pride or edgy toughness...they wanted others to see (a) their deep emotional suffering (which unfortunately for teenagers, is often considered "cool"), and (b) how badass they were to deal with the pain. One of my best friends was a cutter and these were most definitely her reasons.

But regardless of the motivations, I just don't see why this is something to be particularly concerned about. People tattoo themselves, pierce themselves, and do all kinds of bizarre, painful things that I would never do, but that aren't harmful in more than a superficial physical manner. Who cares if an overwrought teenager wants to give herself some scars on her arms and thighs, which will eventually fade anyway? I have never heard anyone say that the concern is a danger of causing real physical harm...just that our teenage girls are apparently too precious to scar up their bodies. Eh, who cares, I say.