<p>Is there evidence that someone who engages in self-harm is likely to hurt others? If there is, please share.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the other thread where OP described what the guy is doing. He is picking at his arms…not cutting them up with razors. Yes its a bit OCD, but a far cry from “soon-to-turn-violent”.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1388841-student-mental-illness.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1388841-student-mental-illness.html</a></p>
<p>And OP has been asked again and again to please say what exactly did the boy say to threaten the girl. She has continued to ignore those questions. The title of the thread is very misleading once you read the actual posts.</p>
<p>I am not a psychologist, but I have never heard or read that cutting leads to external violence. I think that would, in fact, be quite a leap.</p>
<p>For all those people saying OP should call the parents - first of all, I disagree. I think that call should come from authorities - but I would request that a call be made. SECONDLY, how in the heck is OP supposed to know who his parents are and how to contact them?</p>
<p>Thanks for the reality checks, FinanceGrad and SodiumFree. And, yes, kmcmom13, I am suggesting that someone who engages in self-harm is unlikely to make a leap to violence against others based on what I’ve read. If your intuition tells you otherwise, maybe you could back that up with evidence.</p>
<p>I know more than my share of self-mutilators. A jump from cutting to external violence is a HUGE jump.</p>
<p>ttparent,</p>
<p>I never saw UMD say definitively that she feels like:</p>
<p>“he needs to be gone and leave the school and possibly getting committed to some sort of mental institution?” </p>
<p>I think she’s just concerned for her daughter.</p>
<p>cromette, see post #24 -</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Re: cumulative abnormal behavior.
I don’t really need evidence to use common sense, thank you.</p>
<p>I have spent enough time in court with the “minority” of people with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder et al to know that while statistically the majority of people who suffer these forms or illness aren’t violent, a proportionately high volume of the people who commit heinous violent crime are afflicted. </p>
<p>AND cutting is a well-documented symptom of schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and dissociative behavior.</p>
<p>It can be a sign of extreme stress and inability to cope; or manipulative attention-seeking; but it can also be an extreme form of internalized anger at another.</p>
<p>However, in this case, perhaps that info is not germane. Early in the thread, cutting was mentioned as a behavior. </p>
<p>Regardless, if someone is not stable; is self-harming; is tracking behavior and uttering threats, well, I’m sorry, then in my books they’re a threat to themselves or others and require immediate intervention. </p>
<p>Many crimes of “passion” involve self-harm as well. Many forms of aberrant behavior end in self harm. Unstable is simply not predictable.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn,</p>
<p>Ah, I stand corrected. I missed that post.</p>
<p>Not too surprising that you missed it, cromette! It’s a long thread.</p>
<p>"Here is a link to the other thread where OP described what the guy is doing. He is picking at his arms…not cutting them up with razors. Yes its a bit OCD, but a far cry from “soon-to-turn-violent”.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1388841-student-mental-illness.html?highlight=student+with+mental+illness[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1388841-student-mental-illness.html?highlight=student+with+mental+illness</a> "</p>
<p>Sounds like he is not actually “cutting” after all.</p>
<p>“It will be interesting to see if he continues to pick and scratch himself in class.” - OP’s thread #1</p>
<p>I’m beginning to think this guy is being stalked. Did he scratch himself in class that day?</p>
<p>We have not heard that the young man “uttered” threats. We have heard that he is logging perceived slights in a file that he showed to another boy and that in that file there was mention of “revenge.” That could bespeak dark intentions or it could not. We have no specifics. The boy is in the OP’s D’s classes. There’s no mention of him having harassed her in class. Maybe the OP is not sharing. Maybe he hasn’t done anything objectionable in class. Facebook stalking? What does that even mean? If he actually wrote something troubling on her FB page, that is a problem. But I’ve heard people use the term “Facebook stalking” to refer to people doing nothing more than looking at a FB friend’s pictures. What’s the case here? Oh, and as to the cutting? Sounds like it was actually picking, so it seems people can get the images of razors out of their heads. </p>
<p>I hope this young man gets whatever help he needs. And I hope this young woman gets peace. But, people, we do not have enough evidence to jump to diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoid personality disorder or any of the other psychiatric disorders people have thrown out there. My beef with this thread is not parental concern but with the level of hysteria of so many posters.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree, and self mutilation alone is something to voice a concern about to try to get the person help, but maybe not be so concerned about regarding your own safety around that person. </p>
<p>I think that everything put together self mutilation + logging activities + threats of revenge + feeling threatened + rants + friend stating that he has anger issues is a reason for concern. I believe that in the first thread there was mention of him being with the group, but at the same time self isolating within the group. That is a little concerning too. </p>
<p>Whatever the truth is, he may be troubled, and it makes sense to have a 3rd party look in on him and evaluate the situation. But there is a huge difference between looking into the situation and evaluating what needs to be done and having the child committed to a mental institution!!</p>
<p>Yes, I agree that if it’s a pattern then it’s potentially cause for concern. I just wanted to point out that there’s no link (that I know of) between cutters and external violence.</p>
<p>I do hope this boy gets help if he needs it. Mental illness just breaks my heart, especially in this country with our poor mental health support and great stigma attached.</p>
<p>Is picking and scatching yourself in class considered self-mutilation?</p>
<p>As far as the second-guessing of the OP and her daughter goes… It’s difficult for anybody, even a mental health professional, to predict what someone else will do. There is no perfect way to evaluate an at-risk patient, but if a troubled student has in fact said something threatening about someone else, then a professional trained in such assessments needs to be involved. Depending on the level of concern, it could be appropriate to notify either school authorities or the police. (Some posters on this thread seem to think that contacting the police would land the student in legal trouble – that is hardly likely unless actual criminal behavior is involved, but in some cases the police might need to escort the student involuntarily to a hospital to be evaluated.)</p>
<p>As a medical professional, I have had to refer people to a psychiatric emergency room for involuntary evaluation after the they expressed a wish to harm themselves or someone they knew. This can involve calling the police to make sure that the patient does not leave. In every case, it feels like a betrayal of the trust of a person who came in seeking help, and it is terribly difficult to do. Most often, the patients who are subjected to this evaluation are found to be OK and are discharged with little more than a bruised ego; however, some of them are not OK – and some of them have guns. If the OP and her daughter sit on their hands and the student is truly unstable, the outcome could be disastrous. It’s not their job to evaluate the risk themselves, or to notify the student’s parents.</p>
<p>I really wanted to stay away from this thread…but I can’t…BrothersGrim has some valid points. One of my best friends also had 3 boys. We have spent considerable time between the two of us with girls age 16-19 and often remarked that there is alot of drama with girls. I’m surprised, if in fact the OP is 30 minutes away and felt concerned enough to “call a dean”, she didn’t drive there in person. If I suspected for one second that any of my kids were in harm I would have been there in a NY moment. I hope everything works out without incident for everyone and help for whomever needs it boy or girl. Yes, way too much hysteria and projection on this thread.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think it would depend on the extent of the picking and scratching. I knew a girl that could use her fingernails like razorblades, and she could do great harm to herself. Not saying that is what this tudent is doing, just giving an example.</p>
<p>momofthreeboys, you don’t think that the boy needs to be evaluated?</p>