A new type of self harm that trust me, I'm not doing

I just saw this article on "embedding." It's the newest identified form of self-harm, and it's pretty wicked. People are taking objects and putting them under their skin. Imagine how incredibly painful, and over a long period of time, that has to be. Have you ever tried to butter under the skin of a chicken? There's connective tissue and stuff under there. It takes force to break the skin away from it's layers and get things under there. And some of these objects are things like eyeglasses.

Stop for a minute and really think about this concept. Taking eyeglasses and putting them under your skin.

"In the upcoming October issue of the journal Radiology, Shiels and other researchers report that between 13 and 23 percent of American teenagers hurt themselves on purpose."

Most self-injury is cutting or burning. People like me take a knife to the skin or a lighter. Quick, full of adrenaline, and good for relieving immediate distress. I'm not endorsing it at all - self harm is bad - but I get it; I'm a cutter, too.

"Self-injury is almost like a pressure valve for them," Karnik tells Business Week. "Without it, you have to ask, 'What is that kid going to do now?' We have to work with them to give them better strategies to relieve their stress and anxiety."

Yep. There are better options out there than self harm. So what are they? Well, exercise is always a common refrain. I personally have no idea what I do to stop cutting. I've been using drugs, alcohol, and tattooing in place of self harm for years. Currently I'm running on shear willpower.