Although the act of ‘cutting’ has been around for many years, it has been more commonly heard about in the past few years, and especially among individuals of the teenage age group. If you notice a friend or family member suddenly begin to only wear shirts that have long-sleeves, or they suddenly stop wearing any type of pants or shorts that show their legs, it is possible that they have started cutting.

Cutting has become a common form of coping mechanism that people use in order to ‘escape’ or take their mind off of the things that they are depressed about. Individuals who cut generally have no plans of ending their life. Instead, they will generally make a few, or even numerous superficial cuts on their body.

Cutters may cut on any area of their body, but the areas that you will generally notice evidence of cutting, would be on the lower arms, and sometimes on the upper thigh area. When a parent first sees the evidence that their child is a cutter, this can be a very scary situation. It is important try to focus not specifically on the act of cutting, but on the reasons behind the cutting.