Does Body Piercing Indicate Mental Illness?
Does Body Piercing Indicate Mental Illness? The results of this survey (in Medical News Today) are mixed: there have been strong associations between body piercing/tattoos/body art and risky behaviour, self-reported harm, suicidal ideation, the expression of negative emotions and verbal aggression, particularly amongst females. In fact, body piercing could well be considered as a risk-taking behaviour in itself, due to the risk of infections and dermatological complications. However, body art is becoming more frequently practised, hence it is not considered deviant like, say, 10-20 years ago; and more adolescents/post-adolescents are likely to engage in such practices than any other age group. My own twist on the issue as to why this is so: such people, particularly females, who have these procedures are probably more likely to admit to feeling negative emotions and engaging in risk taking behaviours. And while the doctors may need to look out for symptoms of poor mental health amon...