A clinical study of 30 wrist cutters

Abstract

Thirty patients who committed wrist cuttings were divided into four groups according to the patients' psychiatric diagnosis: hysteria group, depression group, adolescent behavioral disorder group and other diagnostic group. In the hysteria group, wrist cutting was considered as an expression of the patients' unconscious intention to seek sympathy for themselves from other people. In the depression group, wrist cutting seemed to be a preliminary rehearsal of suicide. In the adolescent behavioral disorder group, internal conflicts in adolescence or discordance with the patients' parents seemed to be the chief motivations of wrist slashing. The core groups were the hysteria and adolescent behavioral disorder groups, and the peripheral groups were the depression group and others.