Does Body Piercing Indicate Mental Illness?
The results of this survey (in Medical News Today) are mixed: there have been strong associations between body piercing/tattoos/body art and risky behaviour, self-reported harm, suicidal ideation, the expression of negative emotions and verbal aggression, particularly amongst females. In fact, body piercing could well be considered as a risk-taking behaviour in itself, due to the risk of infections and dermatological complications.
However, body art is becoming more frequently practised, hence it is not considered deviant like, say, 10-20 years ago; and more adolescents/post-adolescents are likely to engage in such practices than any other age group.
My own twist on the issue as to why this is so: such people, particularly females, who have these procedures are probably more likely to admit to feeling negative emotions and engaging in risk taking behaviours. And while the doctors may need to look out for symptoms of poor mental health amongst these patents, they might like to consider how body art (especially body piercings) play a role in identity formation.
My own story: At fourteen, when I had my ears pierced twice (which I had done myself with a safety pin and an ice cube), my mother hit the roof (I thought my father would be the one to get angry, but he actually took it better than what she did). She said, 'You put another hole in those ears, and I'll send you to a home' (I didn't know if she meant a 'nut house' or a foster home).
A decade later, I had my ears pierced for the 3rd time, and then the fourth time, though it didn't seem to 'provoke' quite the same reaction. Was it possible that multiple ear piercings by then (during the early nineties) had become more common practice than what they were in the early eighties? However, it was my 'undercut' hairstyle was subject to extensive criticism and ridicule instead.
After that, I had no more 'alterations' done to my ears (or any part of my body, for that matter) and I have no tattoos. Even though I still dress a little bit 'metal', 'punk', alternative or 'goth', I am alot more conservative now in my dress than before. Is it because I had 'mellowed' out and become more 'sensible' in my 'old age' (I am now in my fourties), or is it because I feel alot less 'angry' and 'negative' about the rest of the world?
Or perhaps it is a combination of both - I have adopted a more 'interactive' approach to this phenomenon, due to the fact that my dressing more conservatively has meant fewer 'reactions' from the rest of the general public (and my family), which in turn, has made me feel more 'positively' about the rest of the world.
It doesn't mean I cannot ever dress like that, but I have learned (either way) that there is a time and a place to dress in a certain manner (and for 'alternative' clothes and styles, this means the heavy metal gig or goth club).
The results of this survey (in Medical News Today) are mixed: there have been strong associations between body piercing/tattoos/body art and risky behaviour, self-reported harm, suicidal ideation, the expression of negative emotions and verbal aggression, particularly amongst females. In fact, body piercing could well be considered as a risk-taking behaviour in itself, due to the risk of infections and dermatological complications.
However, body art is becoming more frequently practised, hence it is not considered deviant like, say, 10-20 years ago; and more adolescents/post-adolescents are likely to engage in such practices than any other age group.
My own twist on the issue as to why this is so: such people, particularly females, who have these procedures are probably more likely to admit to feeling negative emotions and engaging in risk taking behaviours. And while the doctors may need to look out for symptoms of poor mental health amongst these patents, they might like to consider how body art (especially body piercings) play a role in identity formation.
My own story: At fourteen, when I had my ears pierced twice (which I had done myself with a safety pin and an ice cube), my mother hit the roof (I thought my father would be the one to get angry, but he actually took it better than what she did). She said, 'You put another hole in those ears, and I'll send you to a home' (I didn't know if she meant a 'nut house' or a foster home).
A decade later, I had my ears pierced for the 3rd time, and then the fourth time, though it didn't seem to 'provoke' quite the same reaction. Was it possible that multiple ear piercings by then (during the early nineties) had become more common practice than what they were in the early eighties? However, it was my 'undercut' hairstyle was subject to extensive criticism and ridicule instead.
After that, I had no more 'alterations' done to my ears (or any part of my body, for that matter) and I have no tattoos. Even though I still dress a little bit 'metal', 'punk', alternative or 'goth', I am alot more conservative now in my dress than before. Is it because I had 'mellowed' out and become more 'sensible' in my 'old age' (I am now in my fourties), or is it because I feel alot less 'angry' and 'negative' about the rest of the world?
Or perhaps it is a combination of both - I have adopted a more 'interactive' approach to this phenomenon, due to the fact that my dressing more conservatively has meant fewer 'reactions' from the rest of the general public (and my family), which in turn, has made me feel more 'positively' about the rest of the world.
It doesn't mean I cannot ever dress like that, but I have learned (either way) that there is a time and a place to dress in a certain manner (and for 'alternative' clothes and styles, this means the heavy metal gig or goth club).
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What is your own take on this situation? How do you rise above the rot?