Skin Game

There are an estimated two to three million "cutters" in America, but experts warn that, as with anorexia, this could be a small percentage of those affected by this little-known disorder.

Cutting has only just begun to gain attention as a dangerous condition that often takes hold of adolescent girls and can last, hidden and untreated, well into adulthood.

Caroline Kettlewell is an attractive, articulate woman.

She is also a former cutter, and the first person to tell her own story about living with and overcoming the disorder.

She grew up in a small Virginia town, where her father worked at the local boys' boarding school.

As she entered adolescence, the combination of a family where frank discussion was discouraged and life in what seemed like a fishbowl became unbearable.

The only relief from her feelings was to physically hurt herself.

She began cutting her arms and legs in fifth grade, and continued into her twenties.

Why would an intelligent young woman resort to such extreme measures?

Caroline Kettlewell offers a poignant, clear-eyed account of her own struggle to survive this debilitating affliction.