# Tattoos, body piercings and self-harm - is there a link?



## David Baxter PhD (Jul 16, 2008)

Tattoos, body piercings and self-harm - is there a link?
July 16, 2008 

Some people say cutting their skin brings them relief from emotional pain - an act usually referred to as self-harm. Others enjoy having their body pierced with metal and their skin inscribed with permanent ink. Is there a link between these acts? According to the German psychologists AglajaStirn and Andreas Hinz, in some cases there might well be.

The researchers collaborated with the body modification magazine _Taetowiermagazin_, recruiting 432 of their readers to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about their tattooing and piercing practices and motives.

One hundred and nineteen of the participants admitted to cutting themselves in childhood. That's 27 per cent of the sample - a much higher proportion than is found among the general population of Germany: 0.75 per cent.

Compared with the readers who said they had never self-harmed, those who had were more likely to report "bad things" having happened in their lives, and to say they had previously had a bad relationship with their own body.

Moreover, the self-harmers reported that they often had their skin tattooed or body pierced to help overcome a negative experience, or simply to experience physical pain. Another clue that self-harm and piercing/tattooing might, in some cases, be linked, derives from the fact that many of the self-harmers said they had ceased cutting themselves after obtaining their first piercing or tattoo.

Stirn and Hinz concluded that most people who partake in body modification clearly do not do it because they have any psychological problems. "However," they continued, "because body modifications have become so common and accessible, they are also used with probably increasing frequency as a convenient means to either realise psychopathological inclinations, such as self-injury, or to overcome psychological traumas."

*Source:* Stirn, A., Hinz, A. (2008). Tattoos, body piercings, and self-injury: Is there a connection? Investigations on a core group of participants practicing body modification. _Psychotherapy Research_, 18(3), 326-333.


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## Thelostchild (Jul 23, 2008)

Weird, but probably true I guess. I have 6 tattoos and my belly button and treggis pierced


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## David Baxter PhD (Jul 23, 2008)

> I have 6 tattoos and my belly button and treggis pierced



What's a treggis?


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## Retired (Jul 23, 2008)

I believe the anatomical term is *tragus* but the word has been colloquialized to treggis, based on Google.

See attached illustration.


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## David Baxter PhD (Jul 23, 2008)

Ah... thanks, Steve.


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## insideiamdying (Jul 26, 2008)

As of today I have 24 piercings... with plans for lots more... 

Some of these were done to prevent me from self-injury...

Sometimes it helped... other times I cut anyways...

Tariki


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## Eye Stigmata (Sep 10, 2008)

I totally agree...
I believe people that do not have tattoos dont really understand why getting them is so great. Alot of my friends who have tattoos and or piercings DID cut themselves when they were younger.
I guess what I mean to say is - People who enjoy getting a tattoo/enjoy getting pierced probably did/do harm themselves in other ways..

Maybe I'm wrong...?


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## Mari (Sep 11, 2008)

H! MonkeyMunch



> in some cases there might well be.



I do not have any tattoos but I do not think it is always necessary to experience something in order to understand. I do have four ear piercings but I am not sure that has anything to do with self-harm. I think the earrings look pretty and 'Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend' although I am still waiting for the diamonds. I do not think that you are wrong but I do not think it applies to everyone. :dimples: Mari


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## Eye Stigmata (Sep 11, 2008)

Mari,

I meant to generalize a little better!! Wasn't pointing fingers 

Haha, so to be more clear, I should say - I think there is a link for me between SI and tattoos/piercings.

Haha


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