This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Go to /pro/cpd-dashboard page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. CPD dashboard

Go to /account/subscription-details page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. Upgrade to Pro

Epidemiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The number of cases of deliberate self-harm is far greater than the number of completed suicides.

In England and Wales about 200,000 cases of deliberate self-harm are admitted per year

Deliberate self-harm:

  • occurs predominately in young people, aged 15 to 25
  • in women more often than men
  • is 15 times more common in social class V than in social class I
  • is 3 times more common in overcrowded home situations
  • is 19 times more common in the unemployed
  • is more likely if parasuicidal behaviour is prevalent in the culture of the individual
  • Britain has the highest rate in Europe, the Netherlands has the lowest

Deliberate self-harm is associated with:

  • marital disharmony
  • domestic crisis
  • a history of a broken home in childhood
  • high alcohol consumption
  • epilepsy
  • child abuse

Reference:

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.