Self-harm
Self-harm – intentional self-poisoning or self-injury, irrespective of the type of motive or the extent of suicidal intent. It is used here in preference to the dichotomous separation of such acts into non-suicidal self-injury (proposed as a new diagnosis for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition) and attempted suicide — now popular in the USA — because suicidal intent is a dimensional phenomenon, the patient’s and clinician’s view of suicidal intent might differ, and national clinical guidelines focus on self-harm.
It is a global health problem and is one of the strongest predictors of complete suicide. Self-harm is especially common in 15–24-year-old women, a group in whom rates of serious self-harm seem to be rising.
Self-harm rates are higher in adolescents from lower socioeconomic groups. Judging from hospital statistics, self-harm has greatly increased in frequency in adolescents in the past few decades, with a major rise in presentations in the late 1960s and 1970s, and a further rise seen in female adolescents in the UK in the 1990s. Why this increase has occurred is unclear, but greater availability of medication, increased stress facing adolescents, greater alcohol and drug consumption, and social transmission of the behavior are possible contributory factors.
Keith, H., Kate, E. A. S., Rory, C. O’Connor. (2012, June 23). Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. The Lancet Vol. 379 (Issue 9834), 2375-2374. Retrieved from https://surl.li/peppjk
Dr. Paul, ...George, C. P. (2012, January 21). The natural history of self-harm from adolescence to young adulthood: a population-based cohort study. The Lancet. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/IGjqb