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

by Marilee Strong

Book Overview

"I highly recommend A Bright Red Scream], because it's beautifully written and . . . so candid." --Amy Adams, star of HBO's Sharp Objects in Entertainment Weekly

Self-mutilation is a behavior so shocking that it is almost never discussed. Yet estimates are that upwards of eight million Americans are chronic self-injurers. They are people who use knives, razor blades, or broken glass to cut themselves. Their...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140280537
• ISBN13: 9780140280531
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Perfect book for therapists and possibly clients about Self Harm

This book takes you through psychological research and brief case studies regarding self harm. Check the copy right date. Mine is from the 80's and while I know more research has been done this book depicts self harm in a real light. I as an MFT student and a previous self-harmer that this book shows an accurate picture of what people do before during and after cutting and offers possible reasons and explanations. I found it helpful as a client because I was able to read it and find words to describe what I felt and possible explanations for it. The book is written at a level where you need some psychological education or experience to fully grasp what is being said. One criticism I have for the book is that there is a very large focus on people with abuse in their histories and that is not always the case.

Answers The Question Of "Why" From Many Angles

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 wil

A tough, but must read

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 found myself in a book

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.

I couldn't stop reading it

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.

Extremely perceptive, many valuable insights

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.