It is a behavior often associated with Borderline Personality Disorder, but the incidence of it in teens seems to be increasing. For many teens it is both experimental and copycat behavior, and most teens who cut, scratch, or burn themselves do not continue the behavior. It is not behavior than can, or should be ignored, however, even though the cuts may be quite superficial.

For those who habitually cut (or burn, or otherwise engage in self-harm) it is a very complex behavior. Ebbie's explanation may be 'simplistic', but it is very close to the reason many clients give for the behavior. That, and as a way to tolerate, or divert attention from emotional distress. It can become very compulsive and can be hard behavior to extinquish because in the immediacy of the distress, it works, even while it causes even more shame and emotional distress over the long haul.

While I do not mean to imply that everyone who gets a tatoo or body-piercing do it to experience the pain, I have had more than one heavily tatooed and/or pierced client tell me having these procedures done serves the same purpose as cutting or burning.

Many mental health professionals have speculated about the dramatic rise in tatooing and body piercing among the youth in our society, along with the increase in experimental cutting observed in teens.

It suggests that in some incidences, we are either not teaching kids the skills they need to cope with and tolerate stress and emotional distress, or the conditions of our society and families (families themselves are under a great deal of stress) result in more and more teens being subjected to more stress and distress in their daily lives than they can reasonably be expected to cope with.