At A Glance
Author	anonymous
Contact	[email protected]
When	Two years ago

As everyone with any sort of visible body modification know, the general public may be described as "less than friendly" Toward those who change their bodies. General disrespect, mocking etc., something the modified are used to, take in stride, or even return with a sharper wit than most

Unfortunately, there is one part of the general public that can be very unpleasant. The psychological/psychiatric establishment.

While a vast majority of practicing psychologists/psychiatrists perform a selfless and needed service to others, there is a dark side.
I am not a current member of the APA, nor am I a "head shrinking fellow", but a simple undergraduate student, months away from graduation

During this time I have had a diverse lot of professors, teaching assistants, and research fellows, some respected the world around for work in their fields, but these same people
have said some things that greatly disturb me. It started about two years ago when I wore a "wife beater" Shirt to keep my newest tattoo uncovered while it healed. This design is a fairly simple "blue work" Celtic design. I have a total of four tattoos, soon to be five, and no piercings *bad metal allergies and general clumsiness mixed with bad experience may keep it this way*
When dressed in normal street clothes, none of my modifications show. Not for reasons of fear, but feelings that my modifications are private, unless I wish them to be otherwise. Hell, with a little hair dye, a haircut and a suit, I could even pass for a lawyer, but I digress.

The professor in said class stated the following when he saw my work "Mr. *X*, why would you harm yourself in such a matter, you're a smart man, there's no point in self mutilation like that"
Yes folks, I was absolutely livid. I attempted to debate my modifications were not mutilation, but modifications and changes, that have existed in a variety of cultures for thousands of years. The good doctor didn't have any of it. I lodged a formal complaint with the dean, but his response was as follows,
"While Dr. *x*'s comment may have been in poor taste, there is not conclusive proof that his theory is incorrect. "Body modification" in certain individuals may be seen as a sign of self injurious behavior, and pathological. I apologize on his behalf if his comment is deemed inappropriate by you."

Ah ha! He's not calling me crazy per se, but not saying I'm not. I dropped the section of that class, and took it up with a different professor. He had heard of the little stir I had created, and said to me at one point, "That man is a p*ick, but it's hard to argue that, from a psychological standpoint, tattoos and piercings could be seen as self mutilation in specific people, more so with the more "extreme" things, like branding" Okay, time to cut my losses and keep quiet until a better time, but this is a disgustingly outdated principle.

For those with psychological background, even the kind imparted by bad prime time TV, self mutilation is the term for deliberate harm done to ones self. It is seen as a "bad thing" by the general public, though it's been given a slightly less charged term, self injury.

While I'll leave a debate of the various aspects of self injury up to the readers, here is a short list of mental illnesses that have a component of self injury in the diagnosis 1

Body Dismorphic Disorder

Borderline personality Disorder

Bipolar disorder

Major depressive disorder

Schizophrenia

With the possible exception of major depressive disorder *AKA clinical depression* these are NOT diagnoses one would like to have. They are often considered to be long term, difficult to treat disorders, that may or may not ever be cured. Schizophrenia has a subset diagnosis of "Schizophrenia in remission", meaning the patient is not cured, but is to be observed in a non-clinical, outpatient environment.

Self injury is, of course, not the determining factor in a diagnosis, but it can be seen as an aspect of ones personality or diagnosed disorder in need of treatment. This treatment can vary widely, from simple "talk" therapy to "pills" with many variations in-between. It is a common practice for a person deemed a self injurer to be forced to sign a "no harm" contract with their therapist, implying no further bodily harm is to be done, lest termination of treatment occur.

"So, What does this have to do with body modification?" The reader may ask. Wonderful question. Let's say you choose to get a pretty new branding done, or an implant. It's a wonderful experience, and you're left with a beautiful modification. Now, after this is healed, let's say you are depressed after the death of a relative, a completely normal response, and someone, even yourself deem you to be in need of some counseling. The psychologist notices your modifications and they may trigger a set pattern in the psychologists mind, pigeon holing you into a diagnosis without proper consent. Another possible scenario, you are seventeen, and have a pair of 18 gauge lobe piercings, pretty vanilla. You decide to go to a 14 gauge, and do it yourself. Your parents are disturbed and demand you seek psychological care. You are now in the stigmatized group of the mentally ill, which comes with it's own nice little set of prejudices and problems, one more notable difficulty being trying to prove you are not ill in any way.

Is this fair? NO. But this has happened before, and may unfortunately happen again. Of course I don't condone avoiding psychological help if you feel you need it, but be aware of a possible risk. How to deal with it? Talk to the psychologist about your modifications, in a positive light, That gigantic ink job on your back? Of course it hurt, but it was with a purpose to add to what was my unadorned body, not to take anything away from it. Your 2 gauge ear lobes? Explain it was a rite of passage to you, a mark of patience and perseverance. Give them your own reasons for the changes to yourself, show yourself to be rational when it comes to changes to your physical form. Perhaps with enough people showing that modification of the body and rationality are not mutually exclusive they will believe it.

1 Taken from the DSM-IVTR *Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness Version 4, Text Revised.