I don't draw clear line between various methods individuals use to cope with distress, the categories blur/blend together in my mind, according to my perspective. These are all variations on "self-regulatory" actions, each person has their own ways that work to some extent-or are the only ones available in their situation, for the time being.
Thus, this topic reminds me of a thread on substance abuse (in which I posted):
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt71426.html
Belfast wrote:
Link to interesting (and such research is tragically uncommon) study on
sensory modulation disorders (not AS, but many people with AS have sensory problems, too) & substance abuse-
http://members.tripod.com/~Chrisfreu/ot ... roject.htm This is a stretch, pure speculation, but I'll throw it out here for the heck of it:
Sometimes watch A&E series "Intervention"-and I wonder if any of those people have undiagnosed sensory (modulation, processing, integration) problems that no one's paying any attention to. Not saying it seems likely for many of them, but just that it's a possibility for a few. Such an issue can seem invisible if you aren't looking for it & aren't aware that sensory problems could be at root of other acquired problems that happen along the way.
For example, I smoke cigarettes because I hate the taste & smell of most foods, so it's actually useful for me to dull my hypersensitive sensory perceptions. Hardly a healthy habit, but am explaining that this is one of the (several, varied) reasons. Others wouldn't likely be able to figure out my motivation, because most of them like food tastes & smells-they wouldn't understand what extra factor was "rewarding" or reinforcing to me, about this bad habit.
Callista wrote:
I think the article's completely ignoring that many (maybe most?) Aspie self-injurers don't do it to cope with rejection, but with overload. SI in autistics, whether repetitive or involuntary or deliberate, tends to have something to do with sensory overload, or transitions, or unexpected/uncontrollable events. I don't see why Aspies should be any different. (There's some crossover. Emotions can overhwhelm anybody, NT or Aspie, and add to base-level stress load enough to cause meltdown.)
Anyway, trying to cope with emotions using self-injury doesn't really work. It just helps for a half hour (or whatever length of time), and then you're right back to the emotions again. Same with overload. But there's no denying that if your brain's wired just right, you will benefit from it for that short time. People do things for a reason, and self-injury always has a reason behind it.
I'm not recommending SI, obviously; it just seems to be something autistics resort to more often than NTs.
Good points.
In the thread to which I linked above, I also made this elaborate disclaimer:
Belfast wrote:
Discussing the reasons one does something isn't defending/excusing/justifying, but acknowledging there are valid functions/purposes that the action or material serves, and understanding something-whether or not it's labeled as a problem-is necessary step to addressing what the problem is comprised of. It's important to know what "Z" thing is "doing for you" if one wishes to find more satisfactory (or socially acceptable) alternatives (habits, milder-"legal"-drugs, etc.) that will also meet those needs/wants/desires.
Again, my agenda is not to promote or discourage a behavior (whether to use or to abstain, from coffee or cigarettes, et al), sharing information is my goal. It's up to each individual to make choice based on his/her unique combination of variables, as to what is "right" for him/her, then & there (as one's answer-yes or no to this or that-may change over time & across circumstance/setting).
I've been a self-injurer to some degree in past-I still have the urges/impulses, but am less able to carry them out. Part of it is merely aging & decaying, which has made me less able to derive gratification (relief from mental pain, pleasant distraction, release of tension) from cutting or the like. It worked better before my body started to fall apart on its own.
Also, having a couple counselors that I talk with on regular basis (in the few years since I got this dx) has helped me have some outlet for my out-of-control emotional states & seemingly unsolvable problems. Gotts' admit that it's nice to have an online forum where I can read & write at any time of day, as my problems don't happen only during business hours,-usually the hardest times, psychologically, are weekends at 3 a.m. (when no one I know is awake).
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*"I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't."*
13 Sep 2008, 4:31 pm
It relieves me from stress and anxiety... There's nothing wrong about that.
