A Bright Red Scream
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''A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain'' is a 1998 non-fiction
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
book written by American journalist Marilee Strong about
self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...
. Published by
Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...
, it is the first general interest book on self-harm.


Background

In 1987, American psychiatrist
Armando Favazza Armando Favazza (born 1941 in Brooklyn, New York City) is an American author and psychiatrist best known for his studies of cultural psychiatry, deliberate self-harm, and religion. Favazza's '' Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation in Culture and ...
published '' Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation in Culture and Psychiatry'', the first psychiatric text on the subject of self-harm. Marilee Strong was an American journalist who had spent several weeks in
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
on a Pulitzer Fellowship reporting on the
psychological trauma Psychological trauma (also known as mental trauma, psychiatric trauma, emotional damage, or psychotrauma) is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events, such as Major trauma, bodily injury, Sexual assault, sexual violence, or ot ...
experienced by children as a result of the
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xvii. When she returned to the United States, she heard about self-harm and decided to research the subject. In 1993, she wrote an article for '' San Francisco Focus'' entitled "A Bright Red Scream", part of a surge in media interest in the topic in the years following the publication of Favazza's book.Favazza, Armando. ''A Bright Red Scream'' (Introduction), p. xiii. Strong's was the first in-depth magazine article on self-harm and was the cover story for that issue. To research the book, she interviewed over 50 people who intentionally harm themselves, many of them by cutting. She also interviewed neuroscientists, psychologists and psychiatrists, including Favazza, a recognised expert on self-harm, and
Bessel van der Kolk Bessel van der Kolk (; born July 1943) is a Boston-based Dutch-American psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator. Since the 1970s his research has been in the area of post-traumatic stress. He is the author of four books, including ''The Ne ...
, a specialist in
posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...
.''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xvi. The title of the article and book came from an interview with a self-harmer who described the action of self-mutilation as a cry for help, calling it "a bright red scream".''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xviii.


Subject

Millions of people in the United States regularly engage in self-harm, intentionally injuring themselves.''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xv Many of them use sharp objects such as knives, razors or broken glass to cut themselves. Strong set out to find the meaning behind this intentional self-harm, exploring related fields of research like
child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
,
addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...
and posttraumatic stress disorder.


Critical reception

Charles R. Swenson reviewed the book for
American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...
journal ''
Psychiatric Services ''Psychiatric Services'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering research on psychiatry. It is published by the American Psychiatric Association and the editor-in-chief is Lisa Dixon. The journal was established in 1950 by Daniel Bla ...
''. He called it "an illuminating and compassionate book" and said that the "greatest strength of this book is journalistic." Regarding Strong's focus on the childhood psychological trauma experienced by many cutters, he criticised her for neglecting "the nearly 50 percent of self-mutilating individuals who do not report trauma histories". Writing for ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', Tamala M. Edwards called it "a compelling tour of the trauma and science of self-injury".


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bright Red Scream, A 1998 non-fiction books English-language non-fiction books Popular psychology books Viking Press books Self-harm