Self-Injury

This page is under construction, but if you are looking for information about self-injury, or you or someone you know needs help, try starting here:

http://www.bipolarworld.net/Self-Injury/sistories.htm

You might also want to think about reading Spinning Straw: the Jeff Apple Story [click on the bookshop link for further information]. Jeff Apple was characterized by self-injury expert Stephen Schroeder, Ph.D., as the worst self-injurer he had ever worked with. He and Jeff became friends, and it had a profound impact on Schroeder, personally and professionally. The reason I recommend reading the story is because Jeff's self-injury was so obviously related to brain dysfunction. Self-injury sufferers tend to blame themselves, and their friends and families, whether they admit it or not, tend to feel the blame is well-placed. But it may well be that a miswired nervous system is at fault. Finding the right medication may be crucial. A vast amount of research is underway that will surely lead to a breakthrough involving safe and relatively noninvasive surgical techniques. Not to downplay psychological and sociological influences that lead to or exacerbate self-injurious behavior, but cases such as Jeff's have to make you wonder how important they are vis a vis sublte [or not so subtle] physiological triggers such as hormonal imbalances, poor nutrition, environmental poisoning. . .I can think of a number of other possibilities. How about you? E-mail comments, and we will do our best to see they get posted. Or post them in our guestbook. If interest proves high, we are thinking of adding a forum to make it easier to 'blog' on this and other important subjects.