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Body Piercing Self-Mutilation or Self Expression?
In the turbulent American culture of the past few decades a shocking and seemingly sadistic practice has been mainstreamed into communities across the country. It began as a form of simple ornamentation and has evolved for some into a livelihood, a belief system, and a source of spirituality. This practice is body piercing or, in a broader scope, body modification. The reasons people give for subjecting their flesh to these various forms of mortification are as varied as a handful of snowflakes, and on a daily basis passers-by question and attempt to intuit the motivations behind these acts of mutilation. Are they the result of a weakened mental state, as many who 'wax psychotherapist' hypothesize? Or are they merely externalizations of a desire, or a resolution in a person's life that can find no other outlet of expression?
Only in the last decade have any serious studies been done on self-mutilation in the field of psychology. The act of mutilating one's own flesh is defined in the psychological world as "…the deliberate, nonsuicidal destruction of one's own body tissue…." (Favazza 5) which can occur in such culturally sanctioned practices as tattooing, body piercing, healing, and spiritual or 'order-preserving' rituals. The definition of self-mutilation also embodies such behaviors as self-biting, cutting, and trichotillomania (the act of pulling out ones own hair). Is there a definitive difference between body piercing and these actions, which are typically linked to a form of mental disease? Or must body piercing be a signal of mental distress? To understand this, we must understand how the psychological field outlines the requirements of the multiple stages or types of self-mutilation (SM).
In psychological classification SM is divided into three categories. The categories are devised based on the degree of tissue destruction, and the rate and pattern of behavior. The first of the three categories is 'Major' SM, which refers to uncommon and infrequent acts such as castration, limb amputation, and eye enucleation. The first recorded incident of this categorization was a case report of a 48-year old manic-depressive widow who accused herself of being a great sinner. After walking naked in the street and asking various men (including her minister) to marry her, she was hospitalized. There she felt that her eyes were sinful and proceeded to enucleate (gouge out) them both. (61) Major SM is generally infrequent, as such acts occur suddenly, with a great deal of tissue loss. Major SM is often an accompaniment to schizophrenia, massive depression, or even acute intoxication. One can see how a person who participated in an act of Major SM while under the influence can find the results to be incredibly sobering the following day. The reasons given for acts of Major SM often defy common understanding. In many cases, religious context is used as a defense. People may claim it was an act of soul purification, or a way to get closer to Christ by understanding the meaning of and magnitude of his suffering.
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The second classification of SM is 'Stereotypical SM.' Stereotypical SM refers to acts such as head banging (banging one's head against an object, not the activities perpetuated by Seattle grunge lovers), head hitting, orifice digging, arm hitting, throat gouging, self-biting, tooth extraction and joint dislocation. These behaviors are typically prevalent in mental institutions (64). What is unusual about Stereotypical SM is that the people who exhibit it appear to have a biological imperative that drives them to harm themselves without fear or guilt, even in the presence of onlookers. Stereotypical SM is unusual when placed in line with the other two classifications because people who exhibit it, unlike the other two classification, are generally unable to offer a symbolic meaning or explanation for why the injury was inflicted. Stereotypical SM is often a symptom of, or an associated feature to, acute psychosis, schizophrenia, autism, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, and Tourette's syndrome (64).
The third classification of SM is 'Superficial/Moderate SM.' There are two subdivisions of this classification as well. They are 'compulsive' (acts which indicate a lack of impulse control) and 'episodic/repetitive'. Compulsive Superficial SM embodies acts such as nail biting, skin picking, and scratching. Episodic/Repetitive Superficial SM embodies acts such as skin cutting, carving and burning, as well as needle sticking/penetration, bone breaking, and interference with wound healing (64). The most studied form of Compulsive Superficial SM is trichotillomania. Trichotillomania is a behavior prevalent in people with anxiety disorders, and is characterized by the constant pulling out of one's hair in periods of extreme duress. Trichotillomania is a compulsive behavior because the self-harm behavior occurs in a response to an irresistible urge, and results in gratification or relief. This is not uncharacteristic of any form of self-mutilation. Often self-mutilators describe their actions as a form of morbid "self-help" a concept we will explore deeper, later. With regards to Episodic/Repetitive Superficial SM, the most documented behaviors are skin cutting and burning. Episodic behavior becomes Repetitive when the behavior manifests itself as an overwhelming preoccupation. For example, people who experience Episodic cutting or burning of the skin may develop an identity as a 'cutter' or 'burner' as the pre-occupation assumes a seemingly automatic course (65).
It would seem it would require a certain amount of bravery for people who delve into piercing to subject themselves to this rigorous scheduling of self-mutilation. Not only are these classifications difficult to face, but also studies have been conducted which show a direct link between low level mutilation (i.e. piercing, scarring, burning) and substance abuse. A study published in the October 17 issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry claimed that "…substance users with histories of distressing trauma (depression, loss of a loved one due to non-war related causes) were more likely than those without such histories…/…to have engaged in acts of self-mutilation…." (Zlotnik, 65). Psychologists have gone so far as to say that "…it is possible that individuals who self-mutilate have a threshold for stress, past which they cannot successfully activate the problem solving process…" (Haines 178). They are implying that people who subject themselves to self-mutilation have a less stable rational faculty and are weaker, unable to sustain more difficult mental challenges. That is a tough realization for an individual to make. This is not a single theory either. Many psychologists hold that people who self mutilate are using the disfigurement as a coping mechanism. When other methods fail, a self-mutilator will turn to self-destructive behavior as a form of resolution to feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression, or rejection. It is a rapid, temporary relief. This is one facet that makes SM unique. It has commonly been misperceived as a signal of suicidal tendency, when in fact it is far from it. In most cases, SM is a resolution unto itself, not a signal of desire for ultimate resolution death.
The opinion of the psychological community regarding body piercing is undoubtedly clear. But how do these classifications hold up to the claims of the people who actually participate in body piercing and modification? What do they offer as their reasoning for the behavior? For a contrast to the stuffy, technical terminology of the psychological reasoning, we turn to a culture within a culture. The Modern Primitive movement is a group of people who claim that the motivation behind their self-mutilation is radically different from the motives outlined by the psychological institution. They believe that they "…are attempting to change their lives, through the use of body manipulation and other primitive practices, away from the ideals of Western society in order to live what they consider a more mentally and spiritually, if not physically and economically, balanced life style…" (Singleton 'index.html'). They believe that body piercing is much less a degenerative mental illness, rather it is a healthy and spiritual advancement that allows them to gain control of themselves in a turbulent and chaotic industrial world. Modern Primitive's activities involve, but are not limited to piercing, suspending the body with hooks, modification of the body through methods similar to Chinese foot binding, and experimentation in augmentation of the skin through insertion of metal beneath the skin to alter bodily appearance. Piercing is also justified by many as a rite of passage; a ritual of sorts that allows a person to make claim to their adulthood. This can occur on a subconscious or conscious level.
To see a person who has modified their body is not an uncommon thing. It may be a person in your college English class. It may be a person you see on the street while shopping. It may be a coworker, or businessman. So how can we know what piercing or body modification means to a person? It would appear that we would discover that the same way we discover the meaning behind a persons home decoration. We ask them what it means to them. Psychologically, a person with multiple (exotic or otherwise) body piercing is classified as an Episodic Superficial Self Mutilator, exhibiting signs of anxiety and inability to cope with the stresses of modern society. At the same time, a 4 year old girl with two earrings total is considered 'adorable' and 'cute'. This may be ultimately true, but for now we must resign ourselves to addressing each person as an individual, not a collective. If this behavior concerns us at all, we must go to the source, the individual him/herself. For piercing may appear outwardly to be a sign of anti-sociality, anxiety, or lack of problem-solving finesse, but piercing (both the act and result) may have an intrinsic and altogether different meaning to the possessor.
1.Favazza, Armando R. M.D, "The Coming of Age of Self Mutilation" Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease May 18 5-67.
.Zlotnik, Caron, Tracie Shea, Pat Recupero, Kahil Bidadi, Teri Pearlstein, Pamela Brown, "Trauma, Dissociation, Impulsivity, and Self Mutilation Among Substance Abuse Patients" American Journal of Orthopsychiatry October 17 650-65
.Haines, Janet, Christopher Williams, "Coping and Problem Solving of Self Mutilators" Journal of Clinical Psychology February 17 177-17
4.Singleton, Jesse Piercing and the Modern Primitive 18. http//bme.freeq.com/pierce/articles/p&mp/index.html
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