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Previous Volume 340:819-820 March 11, 1999 Number 10 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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By Steven Levenkron. 269 pp. New York, W.W. Norton, 1998. $25. ISBN 0-393-02741-4.

Self-mutilation, most commonly by cutting or burning, frequently begins in adolescence and may continue for a lifetime if the behavior is left untreated. It can cause permanent scarring, blood loss, infection (including human immunodeficiency virus infection), and even death. It is also psychologically dangerous.

Self-mutilation can be visually shocking — imagine a crosshatching of ugly red gashes on an adolescent's arms and legs — and eerily silent, a dramatic symbol that takes the place of words. It has the power to move not only psychiatrists and other mental health workers, but also the members of the emergency room staff, who . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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