Carrie,

My T has been indicating that I am unusual, specifically in the variety of methods I use (I've come up with several that she never heard of before), and also the frequency (but it's usually really minor), and also that I don't feel like keeping it a secret anymore. She told me, "Most people who hurt themselves choose on particular (favorite) method, and work very hard to hide it, because they feel ashamed of their choice." I'm not sure, actually, if she is right about that, or if most people just don't report their other methods, either because they don't recognize them as SI, or because they are embarassed and/or just don't want to or think it is important. I was 20 the first time I actually cut (but had done other things before), and i only cut very sporadically until, oh, maybe the last couple of years, but it was steadily increasing all the time. Just at first it might have been several years, then just a few years, one or two years, then down to months, weeks, etc. I wonder if it's actually not all that unusual, just not often reported. People tend to think of this as something that gets started at a younger age, and that people our age have grown out of by now. While I'm sorry that you struggle with it too, at another level, it's nice to know that i'm not alone.

Wendy