can you see my pain?

Monday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Megan, 17:
"In about 9th and 10th grade it started getting worse. I would actually act on it. And I would cut on myself. I would basically do anything. I just really needed to feel the pain. It was almost like I wanted the physical pain to be as bad as my emotional pain."

Desiree', 17:
"I had a razor blade in my room and I cut...just a small cut...on my arm. And just by seeing the blood and just by focusing all my attention on the cut, it took the focus off of all my emotional pain and what was going on in my head."

Amber, 17:
"... it's like if you see - like when you're cutting yourself - if you see your blood, then it's like you know your heart still has to be beating."

It is commonly called self-injury, self-harm, self-abuse, self-mutilation or "cutting".

"Can You See My Pain?" was created because self-injury has become both a very serious and widespread problem for teens - especially teen girls --during the last decade. At least one percent of our teen population today is involved in self-injury: in deliberate, repetitive, impulsive, non-lethal harming of themselves through intentional cutting, burning, scratching, bruising, bone breaking and other injurious acts.

Two guests on the program, Karen Conterio and Dr. Wendy Lader, founders of the internationally renowned S.A.F. E. (Self Abuse Finally Ends) Alternatives Clinic at MacNeal Hospital near Chicago, get 5,500 calls a month from people seeking help in dealing with self-injury.

The self-injurers on "Can You See My Pain?", ranging in age from 14 to 57, and the thousands of others like them in today's society might ask, "When you see my scars, when you see my bruises, when you see my burn marks - Can You See My Pain?" After viewing this documentary, viewers can answer, "Yes."

"Can You See My Pain?" is a very personal message from a troubled segment of our population that tells the world - both younger and older - what life is like for self-injurers and why they turned to hurting themselves for relief. In the end, viewers will understand why so many young people, particularly girls, seek comfort and solace in doing physical injury to their bodies. The program presents clear definitions of the forces the participants perceive as driving and defining their lives; viewers also learn that when people entrapped in these behavior problems fully understand why they do what they do and learn alternative behaviors, they can almost always move on and establish foundations for well-adjusted adulthood.

"Can You See My Pain?" is funded by

DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES MEMORIAL FUND (U.S.)

CORNERSTONE FOUNDATION

GEORGE NAU BURRIDGE

DR. HOWARD AND JUDI PALAY

DR. ANATOL AND HALINA STANKEVYCH

For more information about the program and the complete study guide that accompanies it contact:

NEWIST/CESA #7
(800) 633-7445
www.uwgb.edu/newist/
or
Wisconsin Public Television
(800) 422-9707
www.wpt.org

About the documentary.

What is self-injury?

Resources

WARNING SIGNS:

Unexplained frequent injuries, including cuts and burns
Wearing long pants and sleeves in warm weather
Low self-esteem
Difficulty handling feelings
Poor functioning at work, school or home
Relationship problems

Diana, Princess of Wales:
"When no one listens to you or you feel no one's listening to you, all sorts of things start to happen. For instance you have so much pain inside yourself that you try and hurt yourself on the outside because you want help. But it's the wrong help you're asking for. People see it as crying wolf or attention seeking. And they think because you're in the media all the time, you've got enough attention.

"But I was actually crying out because I wanted to get better in order to go forward and continue my duty and my role as wife, mother, Princess of Wales.

"So, yes, I did inflict upon myself....I hurt my arms and my legs. And I work in environments now where I see women doing similar things and I'm able to understand completely where they're coming from."