Acid Tongued

It still has a shock factor, especially since it has been closely associated with mental/emotional disorders. Yeah, it does seem commonplace, but that should not negate its lingering damage. Oftentimes, cutting is present when other physically destructive conditions such as not eating are also present, so cutting scars may not heal properly and stay with the cutter for many years to come. This is especially true with anorexics, as their bodies are robbed of healing nutrients, and some anorexics do engage in self injury as a syptom of their disease (in some cases to remove "excess" fat). Cutting is also played up in writings (at least on Writing.com) since there's a lot of graphic potential, and having read a decent sampling of these works, I've noticed some writers focus more on the cutting act itself rather than the reasons for cutting. That's just my opinion, though.