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Article: Body piercings, tattoos may reflect suicidality.(Psychiatry)
- Article from:
- Internal Medicine News
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BROOMFIELD, COLO. -- Body modification enthusiasts--individuals who undergo piercing, tattooing, and/or scarification--have a high rate of self-reported prior suicide attempts, David Lester, Ph.D., said at the annual conference of the American Association of Suicidology.
This observation from a large cross-sectional study of body art aficionados raises an intriguing question: Is body modification a marker for increased risk of suicidality, or is it instead a sort of substitute activity?
"As body modification is now becoming socially acceptable, maybe it's something that high-risk adolescents could do to reduce their suicidality. Of course, that's a ...