Customer Reviews

A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Now in my mid-30's, I bought this book after seeing the movie Secretary and recognizing myself as a teen in the main character of the movie. Although, in my case, I overcame my urges to self-injure (in ways other than cutting, which this book addresses) on my own and through the process of maturation and some very focused self-examination in my 20's, I still found myself fascinated as to why I, or any person, would resort to self-mutilation as a way to feel relief and a temporary sense of peace since the act and the resulting feelings seem so incredibly incongruent. This book took me back and allowed me to see and understand myself in ways I never expected and far beyond what I had already ascertained self-mutilation was about based on my own self-understanding. It also allowed me to see where I still lean toward the behavior in subtle, almost undetectable ways even though I have been under the impression for over 15 years that I no longer "act out" or would be considered a self-mutilator.

The book is extremely well written and researched and the case studies sited enable the reader to identify - whether you are or were a self-injurer yourself or know someone who is. The author suggests many reasons why self-mutilators do what they do, why and how this gamut of behaviors addresses crucial needs they have and why it isn't as easy to refrain from when a loved one who doesn't really understand says, "Stop that!" Strong explains the behavior from psychological, emotional, spiritual, physical, chemical, environmental and medical perspectives so that one can gain a full and well rounded picture of self-mutilation, it's causes and it's effects - both overt and obvious as well as subtle and nearly imperceptible.

The most startling revelation I experienced while reading this book - which is a page turner in and of itself - is that I had the impression that I was somehow unique and special in the fact that I was a self-mutilator (because it is such a personal method of self-expression often shrouded in cultivated secrecy and privacy on the part of the self-mutilator) and that I managed to overcome my urges by finally learning how to feel my feelings and address my issues in healthier ways as "normal" people do. This book, however, made me realize that it was almost formula pre-destiny based on the circumstances of my upbringing that would serve as the basis and foundation for the ways I acted out down the road in my teenage years. I was left with the sense that, given all the criteria of what makes a injurer an injurer, I almost had no choice but to do what I did in order to survive and cope - and the act IS a form of survival and coping when you are given the message while growing up that control and perfection is crucial and any overt, yet healthy and normal, form of emotional expression is not okay for whatever reason. This realization made me a bit angry for a time and left me feeling that the path I'd taken in life that I thought was of my own free will was actually one that was chosen for me, in a sense, by those who had a hand in my upbringing; that what I had spent years attempting to address and overcome was actually something I may not have had to address at all had my formative years and childhood been different because, quite simply, self-mutilation is an effect of a cause. I was left wondering what else I may have done with my time and energy had I not had to grapple with this because, for many years, it was a behavior that consumed me - both in the doing of it and then, later, the overcoming of it.

Self-mutilation isn't something people just choose to do without reason or without a deep-seated basis of history that, in a strange way, actually supports the behavior. This book sheds illuminating light on how and why self-mutilators develop into who they are and why they do what they do and it also makes a strong case as to why this is not an act that suggest suicidal tendencies as many suspect, but rather an extreme way of trying to stay alive and save ones own life by expressing emotions, as all humans need to do, in a secretive way that prevents backlash from those around the person who have made it clear that the normal path of expression is not acceptable.

For anyone who self-mutilates and wishes to understand themselves on some very deep levels in order to gain insight - which in and of itself may generate the path toward overcoming the behavior, although some suggestions for treatment and help are given in the book - or those who know and love a person who self-mutilates but doesn't quite understand why they do what they do, thus far I have read no other book that addresses the issue better than this one does and cannot recommend it enough.

OK, it's a subject most of my friends don't want to know anything about. That's why I don't tell them I am a cutter. I discovered I am not alone about four years ago. Although I read another "ok" book on cutting, I just got Marilee Strong's book in paperback because some people in my support group really raved over it. I cried a couple of times reading it, but I couldn't put it down. I feel like someone understands us besides just the "shrink talk" that just tries to put things in neat little unreal boxes. Marilee goes way inside what cutting is about. She doesn't gloss over things and she doesn't seem to act like we should all just "get better" really quickly or "just stop it already"! I'm just a cutter and I'm not a shrink, but I think this person really "gets it." If you are a cutter or if you know someone or just want to understand what it's really like for us, this book will turn your head around.

It was quite by accident that I found this book. I am still healing from the last time I cut myself in an effort to get the pain out. I believed I was suicidal (maybe I still am) but now I know that there are others who feel the same.

Ms Strong's book explained to the smallest detail all the things happening to me, and helped me feel less of a freak. Not only does this book help people who mutilate themselves to understand why they do it, but she gives great advise on steps to take to move toward ending the nightmare.

This book does not condemn cutters or label them as crazy or disgusting. It doesn't even say that we must stop the slashing that sometimes saves our lives. It is written to inform that there are many, many people hurting so badly on the inside that they must see their pain in the form of blood being discharged from their own bodies, and by offering concrete ways of stopping the pain.

I found "A Bright Red Scream" difficult to put down because it was as though I saw myself actually being seen as me for the first time. I became upset in parts of the book where I learned that we don't always want to give up our ways of dealing because we don't want to do the work, or that we have become attached to what we know works for us. If I am going to be honest with myself, I know these are true statements, at least in my case. I am grateful for this insight.

Thankfully there's now a book on self harm that moves away from the sensationalism of Stephen Levenkrom's "Cutting", and is more accessible than the clinical focus of Favazza's work.

"A Bright Red Scream" features plenty of quotes from people who self injure, and aims to dispell a lot of the myths around self harm - which it does most efficaciously.

People who do self injure should be warned that this book might be "triggery", and might well spark off a "wanting to cut" episode. There aren't really any practical tips in this book to overcome that, so you might want to get as safe as you can first, and read it in small chunks.

Two personal gripes with this book - one is Ms Strong's frequent use of the word "cutters" to refer to people who self harm .. I really dislike this as a label.. I feel it reduces me to nothing but my behaviour. Whilst it is certainly shorter than other terms, and some people do use it, I have found that as I heal, and work to overcome my self injury, I see my self more and more as "Kirsti", and less as "a cutter".

The second is that although she mentions the internet resources, no actual webpages or URLs are given..while I can't correct that here, as it would violate Amazon.com's guidelines, I think that it could have easily been included as an appendix.

Overall, Ms Strong has written an excellent book, which I wouldn't hesitate to give to anyone who wants to know more about what really underlies self injury.

Having been in family therapy practice for almost ten years, I have dealt with about half a dozen people--mainly young women--who were/are cutters.I met my first "cutter" back in grad school, and I soon heard about it in the literature. But this is the best explanation of the whole issue I've read. Strong's book is extremely useful for my understanding both as a therapist and as a concerned person. This is something that is very important for people to understand. The connection she makes to childhood abuse and abandonment problems is critically important at a time when so many shoddy and irresponsible books are casting doubt on almost all of the facts about the extent of child abuse in America. Most of us who see abuse victims on a daily basis know that this kind of thing is an epidemic, which is why we get people who self-injure, eating disorders, and a host of other problems. Ms. Strong should be congratulated for spending the time in researching the issues and the people to produce a most valuable work, and for pointing out the connection with child abuse which, sadly, is not a popular cause these days.

I wanted to better understand the world of self mutilation, because I am a "cutter". This book offered some interesting perspective on this disorder, and over again I saw myself in the different stories of people in the book. One of the more interesting sections of the book is the chapter "on the wild side" where the book explores ritulistic cutting, tattoes, piercings and other sub-culture topics. I recomend this book to people who self mutilate, or for people who just simply wish to better understand why people would do this to themselves.

I myself, suffer SI. I wanted to know why I did what I do, and so on. This book what brought up to me by a ex-coworker. I finally got some understanding. It's great for those who know someone who does SI, it will make them understand that we are not doing this for attention, not doing it just because it's "in", or even because we are "goth and dark". It's a cry of pain and unfornatly, is on the outside of our skin.

It's a little graphic at times and the first time I read it, I was badly triggered by it. But a second reading gave me more insights. I wish I could get what few friend I have left to read this, including my BF and maybe my parents too.

I've also read the "Body Under Seige" book about the SAFE program, and compaired to that book, this should be the Holy Grail for people wanting to learn about SI (not how to - but why it's done and the reasoning behind it).

Wow. I am very impressed by Marilee Strong's book. She is a journalist, but writes as if she has had years of training as a mental health clinician. This book not only provides fascinating case studies by actual individuals who self-harm, but also discusses the latest research and treatment options. I am a Master's level mental health therapist and during my graduate studies self-harm was rarely discussed; in the field I have seen a large amount of individuals from age 4 and up who have had these behaviors. I am extremely pleased to find this book and it was extremely helpful to me. I feel I have gained a great deal of insight and wealth of knowledge into self-harm behaviors. The book is clearly written, is objective, and is hard to put down. I would recommend reading only 2-3 chapters at a time, because the content is intense and may be troubling.

It's interesting that all of a sudden there are several books on self-injury. But I've read them all (strong personal interest) and this is really THE book. Strong really knows her stuff, both the "inside the heads" view of self-injurers and even making sense of how the brain seems to work that helps to explain self-injury. The experiences of people she writes about are so real, and so vivid. And caring! Maybe its because Strong is not a therapist and therefore doesn't have any "blinders" on the way therapists unfortunately often do. Sometimes even when therapists treat people with self-injury (and even write about it), they really don't seem to have a deep level of empathy. Strong touched my soul with her book!

This book is really a tough one. After the forward and the preface is a short poem by some one that does cut... I'm not going to re-write it here for obvious copyright reasons. The theme of the poem is matching the feelings on the inside to what is on the outside. And for alot of people I think that that sums up the whole cutting issue.

Its a very hard book to read for anyone who is close to this topic. It will trigger you, I have no doubt, if abuse issues are close to the surface for you. It triggered me. I had to start and stop this book multiple times before getting to the end. Truthfully, I'm not really sure I have gotten through the whole book, I only know I reached the end of it.

It has an interesting mix of professional detachment and painful personal accounts. Sometimes it is almost difficult to reconcile that they are in the same books. At times the *painful* just is around the next page and you aren't quite expecting it. I would say that a great deal of stability would need to already have been achieved PRIOR to reading this book. And if you had a personal history of cutting... the longer ago it was...probably the better. This would be a very hard book to recommend to someone who is actively doing it. I could see how reading it would give them insight but I don't think that they could acheive the amount of detachment from the book they would need to absorb it without being triggered.

This book, no doubt, is important. It invokes a feeling of community and of not being alone in behavours that tend to be very solitary. And also of hope and profound healing for me. All that said, you have to be ready to read this book. Be very gentle with your self always.