Self-mutilation can mean quite a few different things, depending on who you ask. There are people that believe tattoos and piercings are self-mutilation. Inflicting pain on one's self can, as mentioned, be a way to focus. It's not something I do, because pain, well, hurts me. I think it's trendy today to make fun, or pick apart, someone that does something not in the mainstream or something that's not readily accepted by most people. There's very rarely any attempt to find out why a certain act is done, the act itself just gets condemned without any question.
In my opinion, scars on one's body can almost tell a personal story. I have more than a couple on my body, none self inflicted(intentionally anyway). Each time I sit and think about it, it's a means to remember a lesson, or a time in my life. Perhaps those people that choose to do that to themselves are making a "road map" of their lives, if you will. I don't mean to sound flippant about it, or disturbing, but they are serve as a bonding experience. Someone feels comfortable enough with another person to share why it happened, or is still happening.
I think a big part of it is also a morbid curiosity. There are people that live their lives without feeling much pain, be it physical or emotional, and they are curious to see what it is like. For others, I'd think that it would be the opposite. A way to physically or emotionally detach from what is happening to them. Not everyone can afford psychiatric help, and I know for a fact that some people see this as a way to release their tensions without having to see a specialist.
Whatever the cause, I don't think it's right for someone that hasn't gone through it to pass judgment on someone. I'm sure there are people that do it because their friends do it, or they saw it in a movie, but there are also people that do it because they think they need to. The hard part is finding out which person is doing it as a cry for help, and which person is doing it as a cry for attention. I'm not condoning self-mutilation, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to mock someone for doing it. It's not a "don't knock it 'till you try it" thing. In my opinion, it's a "try not to judge someone until you've been in their situation" thing. I've probably gone on way to much about this, sorry.
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