- “the act of deliberately causing harm to oneself either by causing a physical injury, by putting oneself in dangerous situations and/or self neglect.” (NSHN)
- “Cutting, burning, biting
Substance abuse
Head banging and hitting
Taking personal risks
Picking and scratching
Neglecting oneself
Pulling out hair
Eating disorders
Over dosing and self-poisoning” (NSHN) - “It can be anyone” (NSHN)
- “‘The UK has one of the highest rates of self harm in Europe at 400 per 100,000 population’
(Horrocks, J. Self Poisoning and Self Injury in Adults, Clinical Medicine, 2 (6), 509-512 (2002)
Cited in Samaritans information sheet, Self Harm and Suicide March 2005)” (NSHN) - “Self harm can be a form of self punishment for feelings of guilt.” (NSHN)
- “Over half of people who die by suicide have a history of self-harm.” (NHS, 2015)
- “It is thought that around 13% of young people may try to hurt themselves on purpose at some point between the ages of 11 and 16.” (Self Harm UK, 2016)
- “In 2014, figures were published suggesting a 70% increase in 10-14 year olds attending A&E for self-harm related reasons over the preceding 2 years.” (Self Harm UK, 2016)
- “Girls are thought to be more likely to self-harm than boys, but this could be because boys are more likely to engage in behaviours such as punching a wall, which isn’t always recognised as self-harm or doesn’t come to the attention of hospitals.” (Self Harm UK, 2016)
Works Cited:
National Self Harm Network. (unknown) What is Self Harm? Available from: http://www.nshn.co.uk/whatis.html [Accessed on 21 March]
National Health Service (2015) Self harm: Overview. Available from: www.nhs.uk/conditions/self-injury/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Accessed on 21 March 2016]
Self Harm UK (2016) The facts: Self-harm Statistics. Available from: https://www.selfharm.co.uk/get/facts/self-harm_statistics [Accessed on 21 March 2016]
More reading:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/21/shock-figures-self-harm-england-teenagers