@article{ref1,
title="From feeling too little and too much, to feeling more and less? A nonparadoxical theory of the functions of self-harm",
journal="Qualitative health research",
year="2009",
author="Horne, Outi and Csipke, Emese",
volume="19",
number="5",
pages="655-667",
abstract="It is widely agreed that one of the functions of self-harm by cutting or burning the body is to regulate emotion. There is an apparent paradox in the emotion-regulative function of self-harm: some people are using self-harm to both increase and decrease affect. The aim of this study, which followed the principles of the grounded theory approach, was to generate a paradox-free theory of the functions of self-harm that is of immediate relevance to the participants themselves, who are often confused about the behavior and the experiences preceding it. We found that &quot;feeling too little&quot; and &quot;feeling too much&quot; share characteristics in three categories of experience: emotional awareness, sense of self/reality, and body-based experience. We explain the functions of self-harm in terms of body-based experience: Self-harm resolves a state of psychosomatic suspension and increases the extent to which the body is involved in the experience of emotion.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1049-7323",
doi="10.1177/1049732309334249",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1049732309334249"
}