More teens harming themselves

By Belinda Goldsmith

NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters Life!) - The number of teens deliberately cutting or burning themselves is rising as self-injury is spotlighted in blogs, songs and in schools but this behaviour is a far cry from suicide, found a U.S. study.

Researcher David Klonsky, who spent five years studying why people inflict injuries upon themselves, said studies show one in six U.S. adolescents or students now self-injure, using this behaviour to cope with feelings of depression or anxiety.

New York-based student Laura McIntyre was one of them.

McIntyre was about 15 when she began using razor blades to slice her upper arms after her brother was sent to jail and her father went to serve with the U.S. military in Iraq.

She said the pain was a relief from the emotional anguish.

"I found this distracted me from the emotional trauma. I wasn't suicidal but I was depressed," said McIntyre, who is now 20 and studying psychology at New York's Hunter College.

"At first I managed to hide it with long-sleeve shirts but I became completely withdrawn. Cutting was the only thing I looked forward to doing.

"But my mother began noticing bloody rags and tissues and sheets. The excuse of having a nose bleed only lasts so long. She took me to a therapist."