Self-harm

What adolescents told us about self-harm

The term self-harm refers to deliberately hurting or injuring yourself without trying to end your life. It is often done secretively.

• • Around one in 10 12-17 year-olds (10.9%) reported having ever self-harmed.
    - This is equivalent to 186,000 young people aged 12-17 years who had deliberately injured themselves.
    - About three quarters (73.5%) of these adolescents had harmed themselves in the previous 12 months.
  • Self-harm was roughly twice as high in females compared with males and also in older compared with younger adolescents.
  • Females aged 16-17 years had the highest rates of self-harm, with 16.8% having harmed themselves in the previous 12 months.
  • Self-harm was markedly higher in young people with major depressive disorder. One quarter (25.8%) of males and just over half (54.9%) of females with major depressive disorder (based on self-report) had harmed themselves in the previous 12 months.
  • Self-harm can result in serious injuries and 0.8% of young people had been admitted to hospital as a direct result of these injuries.