Have you heard of wrist-cutting?
When did the term “wrist-cutting” become common?
At least in my experience, I don’t think I heard it before the year 2000. However, self-harm is, in a way, a natural yet minority behavior observed not only in humans but also in animals.
According to the Japanese version of Wikipedia, it states the following:
In the 1960s, wrist-cutting became popular in the United States, and in 1972, Rosenthal and colleagues were the first to describe it as the “wrist-cutting syndrome” [2].
In Japan, the term “wrist-cutting” is derived from cutting the wrist, which is abbreviated to “risuka” in casual usage [3]. Individuals who engage in wrist-cutting are sometimes referred to as “wrist-cutters” or “riskers” [4][5].
Related behaviors include face-cutting, where individuals injure their faces with sharp objects [6], arm-cutting, abbreviated as “amuka” [3], and leg-cutting, abbreviated as “reguka” [3].
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%AB%E3%83%83%E3%83%88
I wonder if the term itself has existed for a long time. Perhaps it was known among professionals.
As for me, I began my career in wrist-cutting without knowing it was called that, sometime in the late 1990s. It was an era when Nostradamus’ prophecies and the Y2K problem were stirring public anxiety.
Looking at Google Trends, I couldn’t discern any trends related to the term “wrist-cutting” (since the earliest data on Google Trends is from 2004, information prior to that isn’t available).
As a side note, it seems that The Complete Manual of Suicide was published in 1993, and The Cost of Suicide in 2015.
The internet saved me
Returning to the topic of wrist-cutting, it was around 2005 when my wrist-cutting became more widely known to those around me. By that time, it seemed that the term “wrist-cutting” had reached an era where those who knew it, knew it.
This was partly because the emergence of Mixi during that period provided some relief for me.
The earliest year that can be set on Google Trends is 2004, which coincides with the time when, personally, Mixi began gaining popularity.
At the time, I started using Mixi because a friend invited me, and it allowed me to connect not only with my real-life friends but also with people I had never met before—people I could talk to about things I couldn’t discuss in real life.
These individuals were people who shared the same struggles. Back then, the recognition of depression as an illness was so low that even those affected often didn’t realize it themselves (this connects to the topic of “fashion wrist-cutting,” which I’ll discuss later). Of course, there were people who were already receiving treatment and taking medication, and I was one of them, andl also the people I became close with.
Although I never got to meet one particular person in real life, we exchanged contact information, emailed each other, and even sent letters.
The idea that the internet is scary holds true if you use it recklessly, but looking back, I’m truly grateful that Mixi existed. It allowed me to meet people with similar struggles, and I was able to receive support. The emotions tied to those connections still linger in me. There were people I was genuinely glad to have met. I believe I’m not the only one who has had such experiences.
I was fortunate to meet good people, but my self-harm did not completely stop. It fluctuated over time, and while the overall trend was downward in the long term, looking back now, I realize that I was still caught in the cycle of habitual behavior.
This is something I’d like to write about separately, but I believe factors such as personality disorders, age, and environment also played a role in influencing my actions.
For many years, I have been thinking about mental health issues surrounding myself, including depression and self-harm.
In my teens and early twenties, my reflections were primarily focused on myself, and the purpose of these reflections was to find answers to my own struggles with life. However, as I’ve grown older, I’ve found myself increasingly looking at these issues from an objective perspective.
I’ve started to explore more about the causes of self-harm and the behaviors and thoughts associated with it from a more objective aspect.
During this process, there have been several occasions that made me reflect deeply on the terms and phenomena of wrist-cutting and fashion wrist-cutting.
One reason for this is that, through both work and personal experiences, I’ve had cases where I saw people who engage in self-harm. I’ve also had more opportunities to hear opinions about those who struggles with such behavior.
Although my thoughts are far from organized, I’ll try to put them into words.
Looks like rural people are okay with insects, but city people find them gross
First, let’s talk about wrist-cutting and fashion wrist-cutting.
For many people, wrist-cutting is so unfamiliar that it seems frightening, unsettling, or even bothersome.
As a side note, I want to say upfront that I don’t have a positive impression of the term “wrist-cutting.” The act of cutting one’s wrist is often a desperate attempt by someone in pain to survive, but the term itself seems to convey a somewhat too casual impression, which I find troubling.
That said, for the sake of clarity, I’ll use the term “wrist-cutting” here on this site and in this article.
Another quick note: I dislike the term “menhera” (a slang term often used to refer to people with mental health issues).
I also dislike calling depression “a cold of the heart (In japanese, it’s discribed “Kokoro no kaze”, meaning “mental cold” but I cannot find the appropriate phrase to describe this Japanese expression…)”
Back to the main point.
For those who witness it, wrist-cutting is probably an act too unfamiliar to grasp.
People don’t understand what it is, and they rarely encounter it. Even if they don’t comprehend why someone would do such a thing, if they encounter people who engage in wrist-cutting more often—for instance, at work or school—the initial discomfort or fear might fade. It’s simply a matter of familiarity.
It’s similar to how people born and raised in cities often feel an exaggerated fear or disgust toward insects.
I’ve personally witnessed people reacting strongly when they saw those understandable people.
Some would even outright say, “That’s gross.”
I suppose when something goes beyond the bounds of what people can understand, that’s how they react.
Even if they recognize that it’s due to a disorder or mental illness, if they’ve never experienced it themselves, it’s probably inevitable that they react that way.
It’s akin to how someone athletic might criticize a less athletic person by saying, “Why don’t you practice more?”
On a slightly different aspect, I think the invention of the term “menhera,” which lumps “mentally unstable people” into one category to mock them, further exacerbates the struggles of people experiencing wrist-cutting—or more broadly, those suffering from mental illnesses.
This is something I’d like to organize and delve into separately at another time.
Wrist-Cutting as Fashion
Now, let’s consider the factors that cause people who engage in wrist-cutting to be perceived as weird.
Self-harm, I believe, arises from various motives, but it’s also one way to seek help, even if that’s not the intent every time.
To seek help, there’s often a desire for someone to notice the results of the self-harm and to express concern. I’ve felt that way myself, and I still think at times.
However, from the perspective of the observer, the act may be so unfamiliar that they don’t know how to react.
Some might wonder, “Why are you showing me this?” Others might think, even if it’s not shown, “Why aren’t you hiding it?”
Because it’s incomprehensible, it feels unsettling.
Still, instead of screaming for help, there are those who quietly think, “Please look at me,” and sometimes they turn to the internet to express this. This, I believe, has widened the gap in perception between those who engage in self-harm and those who don’t.
Let’s also think about the fashion aspect of it.
It’s possible that some people purely enjoy wrist-cutting as a form of fashion (Personally, I don’t think so). However, I think it’s also a method of expression for people struggling with their own issues.
We see trends like “Yami Kawaii” (sick-cute), “Jirai-kei” (landmine style), and “Yami makeup” (dark makeup). I think these trends, or at least the behaviors they represent, existed even before these terms were coined.
To be honest, I’ve never spoken with someone who purely enjoys wrist-cutting as fashion, so I can’t fully understand it from that perspective. If there’s someone knowledgeable about this, I’d love to hear their thoughts.
It’s admittedly difficult to summarize this topic…
The term “Chuunibyou” (middle school syndrome) was invented long ago, and I believe it encompasses people who empathize with a protagonist carrying inner turmoil.
There’s a certain admiration for “that person burdened by darkness, struggling with pain but still living bravely.”
I think this admiration is reflected in fashion.
In the process of embodying this admired image through fashion, wrist-cutting as a form of expressing pain may have been incorporated. This spread through the internet, leading to imitation and, eventually, to terms like “mass-produced” being used to mock such behaviors.
As a result, perhaps people who don’t struggle with anything at all, but purely engage in wrist-cutting as fashion, might have emerged.
Personally, though, I doubt such people exist. Sure, there are people who do scar makeup for Halloween, but…
I feel that the spread of Yami-style fashion might have made it easier for people to raise their voices and say, “Help me,” which in turn has led to an increase in the visibility of wrist-cutting.
Separately, I also wonder if those who don’t engage in self-harm but sympathize with the Yami Kawaii aesthetic and incorporate it into their makeup or fashion might unconsciously be carrying some kind of unspoken burden themselves.
What do you think?
While it may not be directly relevant to this article, I will include the Google Trends results for the previously mentioned terms.
Are repressed emotions starting to spill out?
The development of internet communication technologies and the creativity of young people who transformed their struggles into fashion might have led to an increased visibility of wrist-cutting compared to the past. At the very least, the awareness of this term and behavior has undoubtedly spread.
Because of this, I feel that many people have found it easier to express feelings they couldn’t previously articulate—like saying, “Help me.” For better or worse.
However, actually speaking up or asking for help from others can be difficult, so it feels more like a silent cry beneath the surface.
Could self-harm become as widely recognized as depression someday?
Not so long ago, depression was often dismissed as laziness. But over time, it has become widely known that depression is a genuine illness, a physical disorder.
Now, it is seen as a condition that needs care, and people understand that anyone can experience it.
Will wrist-cutting, similarly, shift from being something seen as strange to something that is recognized as deserving care?
Of course, even now, wrist-cutting is seen as something that requires care, but perhaps it will become more openly acknowledged and understood.
Even people who seem incredibly kind and considerate, or those who are highly capable at work, can sometimes have surprising reactions to depression or wrist-cutting.
I wonder what the future holds.
I couldn’t quite wrap up my thoughts.
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