Favazza, MD suggest that religion has a lot to do with one harming himself or herself. Favazza researched patient’s explanations drawn from the world literature and interview and survey research. It is seen self-mutilation may have other elements such as a mental disorder behind it. “Self-mutilation has been used as a means of atonement, purification, and punishment for sins.” One example of this is, a 37-year-old sailor felt his shipmates were going to harm him. For Easter, he wanted to match Christ, who overcame difficulties by enduring the torments of his captors so the sailor cooked his index finger and ate half of it. People also harm themselves because the feel God told them to. A manic 26-year-old woman who claimed that God ordered her to tear out her tongue, to burn herself and to not eat. She cut her arms, lacerated her vagina, and blinded herself in one eye (2). The weakest link in our chain of knowledge is the biological one. The research results led Favazza to believe “neurotransmitters such as dopamine may play a role in some cases of self-mutilation, but the nature and importance of that role is problematic.” Favazza also believes that with the exception of patients who are severely mentally retarded, self-mutilation is “best thought of as a purposeful, if morbid, act of …show more content…
Many people believe that those who self-harm are usually teenagers who are emo or gothic, but that is not the case. According to statistics, it is estimated that around two million people in the United States have injured themselves intentionally in some way. The majority are teenagers and young adults. Another study conducted by Segal, Connella, Miller and Coolidge, found differences between self-harm in gender and age. Using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), they calculated directly standardized rates of incidence. The rates were compared by gender and age and across the nations of the United Kingdom, and also by the degree of socioeconomic deprivation measured ecologically at the general practice level. They found “significantly elevated rates in females vs. males for incidence (rate ratio—RR, 1.45, 95 % confidence interval—CI, 1.42-1.47) and for annual presentation (RR 1.56, CI 1.54–1.58). An increasing trend over time in incidence was apparent for males.” These results indicate that females are higher risks for engaging in self-harm. It also noted in the conclusion that it would be beneficial to incorporate data from primary care because it yields a more comprehensive quantification of the health burden of