Statistics

Self-harm is more common than people realise. It's impossible to say exactly how many young people self-harm because:

• Many young people hurt themselves secretly
• Many never ask for counselling or medical help
• There is no single definition of self-harm

There are no national statistics on self-harm and rates depend on the setting in question as well as the definition.

Best evidence suggests:

• Self-harm is most common among children over the age of 11 and increases in frequency with age. It is uncommon among very young children although there is evidence of children as young as five trying to harm themselves (Hawton, K, Fagg, J and Simkin, S 1996).
  Self-harm is more common amongst girls and young women than amongst boys and young men. Studies indicate that, amongst young people over 13 years of age, approximately three times as many females as males attend hospitals following episodes of self-harm(Hawton, K and others 2000)
• A study in Oxford found that approximately 300 per 100,000 males aged between 15 and 24 years, and 700 per 100,000 females of the same age, were admitted to hospital following an episode of self-harm during the year 2000 (Hawton, K and others 2000)
• Rates of self-harm in the UK are amongst the highest in Europe (NICE 2002).

Community based studies report higher rates of self-harm than hospital based studies.

A national survey of children and adolescents carried out in the community found that 5% of boys and 8% of girls aged 13-15 said that they had, at some time, tried to harm, hurt or kill themselves. Rates of self-harm reported by parents were much lower than the rates of self-harm reported by children. This suggests that many parents are unaware that their children are self-harming (Meltzer, H and others 2001).

A study carried out in schools found that 11% of girls and 3% of boys aged 15 and 16 anonymously reported they had harmed themselves in the previous year and overall of these 54.8% of 15-16 year olds who self-harmed said they had done so on more than one occasion. (Hawton, K and others 2002).

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