THE moment a teen starts exhibiting odd behaviour can be a nightmare for most parents. But it gets worse when the child starts wearing black outfits, accentuated by loud chains and belts, black nail polish, black mascara and dying their hair jet black.

Teens who exhibit such behaviour are usually described as followers of the “Goth subculture”, which is found in many countries and began in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the post-punk era.

But there is even greater cause for concern when the child starts displaying serious antisocial behaviour and turns to cutting and other forms of self-mutilation on a regular basis. Self-injury, which experts say is more popular among teens than any other demographic group, also includes stabbing self with harmful implements, burning, self-poisoning and other activities considered suicidal.

But psychologists believe that a popular misconception of self-injury is that it is an attention-seeking behaviour. In truth, many people who injure themselves are fully conscious of their behaviour and go to great lengths to conceal the damage.

Here in Jamaica, several teens who admit to being guilty of self-injury say their actions have nothing to do with being a Goth. They say it’s about expressing their inner emotions, often their feelings of quiet desperation or rage brought on by peer pressure or domestic problems.

“I started cutting myself when I was 11. I used to cut my wrists pretty often, like every week. I basically tried to kill myself,” said a 15-year-old Ardenne High School student who we will not name. “I needed an outlet for my rage and my passion. I was going through a lot with my parents and friends at the time.”

The student, who wears heavy black outside of school, also says she is stereotyped as a ‘Goth’ though she doesn’t practise the culture.

A 17-year-old young man who spoke with the Sunday Observer, and who we will refer to as Neil, shared the young girl’s sentiment, saying his failed quest to fit in with his peers led to the start of the harmful habit.

“I was pretty much alone in my little world. I was treated like a freak. I had to find a way to fix this problem and then I just started cutting myself all over,” said Neil, who will begin tertiary studies in August. “I don’t see a problem with going through pain in one’s life. In order to go forward and become something great, one has to endure hardship and struggle.”

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow found that more than half of 1,258 teens, between the ages of 11 and 19, had self-harmed, while 47 per cent had attempted suicide. In a recent study of undergraduate students in the United States, 9.8 per cent of the students surveyed indicated that they had purposefully cut or burned themselves on at least one occasion in the past.

When the definition of self-injury was broadened to include head-banging, scratching oneself and hitting oneself, along with cutting, 32 per cent of the sample said they had done this.

As such, psychologists and other experts believe that the problem is not associated only with severely disturbed youngsters but is not uncommon among young adults. At the same time, based on research, it is believed that females are more prone to self-injury than males.

Both the Ardenne student and Neil say their parents tried to intervene when the problem worsened but were unsuccessful in their bid.

“My parents didn’t really understand what was happening to me because I represent the minority of Jamaican teenagers,” said the girl. “They tried to intervene but they didn’t get across to me. It was my boyfriend who helped me to see the light.”

Neil said he grew out of the habit after two years.

“I don’t regret it, because every mistake is for a reason,” he said. “It made me who I am today.”