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RésuméL’automutilation superficielle est un comportement symptomatique relativement fréquent à l’adolescence, qui renvoie à des situations très différentes ayant pourtant des caractéristiques communes. La compréhension de ces comportements dans une période de consolidation identitaire, en interpellant le rôle de la peau en tant que première limite de soi, permet de dégager sens et fonctions possibles pour le développement de ces jeunes. Au-delà de l’exploration du rôle adaptatif potentiel de l’automutilation, l’aspect addictif en sera souligné tout comme l’importance du caractère symptomatique d’un comportement qui doit être évalué globalement en termes de psychopathologie afin de proposer des pistes d’intervention adaptées à l’histoire singulière de chacun.

Self-mutilation studied here in its superficial or non-deadly forms is a relatively frequent symptom in adolescence. Involving the skin as physiological barrier and essential mediator between inside and outside, this often compulsive and violent behavior is highly relational as it implies the limits of the self in relation to the other. The author first refers to the concept of Ego-Skin as elaborated by Anzieu to analyze psychic phenomena associated to self-injurious behavior, arguing that this symptom be envisaged in the context of adolescence as a temporary solution held by the subject to survive to distress whichever may be its cause and origin of concerns. At a clinical level, self-mutilating conduct may indicate a fundamental lack of protection and past neglect of the child’s needs, this capacity for self-care and self-protection being internalized by the child after the care provided by the parents during infancy and childhood. While considering the discomfort and possible fascination provoked in clinicians the intervention with these adolescents is discussed in the light of the many functions and adaptive role of the symptom in each specific dynamic.