Self-inflicted lesions are examined from the perspective of psychoanalytic listening to fifteen adolescents who sought help at a walk-in clinic. Psychological suffering among contemporary adolescents often presents in the guise of this problem. Medicalization is critically assessed as the predominant response to such youths. Aided by psychoanalytic references, other modes of understanding the problem are explored, and Freudian theories of anxiety, pain, and symptom formation are deployed. Additionally, Lacanian theory is called upon to highlight the effects of the word and voice of the Other upon the adolescent subject. Two transgender youths presenting with histories of self-aggression lead to specific reflections on the issue.
Keywords
Adolescence; self-injury; psychoanalysis; medicalization