Around one in six adolescents worldwide report having self-harmed at some point in their lives. In England, an NHS mental health survey of 2,370 children and young people found that more than one in three young adults aged 17 to 24 had self-harmed.
Typically, responses to self-harm focus on the individual – diagnosis, treatment and risk management. Mental health support is clearly essential, but a large and growing body of global research points to wider, social factors contributing to self-harm.
