THE PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY OF SELF-MUTILATION - EVIDENCE OF TENSION REDUCTION

Psychophysiological and psychological arousal patterns of individuals who self-mutilate during imaged self-mutilation were examined. Imaged control events (accidental injury, anger, neutral) were compared betwe en self-mutilation and control groups. Personalised guided imagery scr ipts were presented in four stages: scene setting, approach, incident, and consequence. Results depicted a decrease in psychophysiological a rousal when self-mutilation participants imaged cutting themselves. A decrease in psychological response was not evident until after cutting . Responses to self-mutilation imagery were different from those demon strated during control imagery. A comparison of responses to self-muti lation imagery between past and currently self-mutilating participants indicated no difference in the psychophysiological arousal patterns t o self-mutilation imagery. A lag was evident for psychological arousal for the retrospective sample but not for the current group. These res ults indicated that self-mutilative behaviour is maintained by the psy chophysiological and psychological tension-reducing qualities of the a ct. When a person is no longer engaging in the behaviour, the feelings associated with the act are open to reinterpretation.