The truth about self-harm
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Self-harmers are attention-seeking, manipulative teenagers. Self-harmers are suicidal. Self-harmers are goths. Self-harmers can stop if they want to. Self-harm is when you cut yourself with a knife. Myth. Myth. Myth. Myth. Myth!
How have we ended up getting it so wrong when it comes to sorting out self-harm fact from fiction?
Self-harm has a stigma that just won’t budge. This is largely due to a lack of education and information available in schools and the NHS. In the Samaritans report Youth Matters – A Cry For Help 43% of young people knew someone who has self-harmed, but one-in-four didn’t know what to say to a friend who was self-harming.
We have the highest level of self-harm in Europe. Around 25,000 11- to 25-year-olds are admitted to Accident and Emergency each year in England because of self-harming. Of course this number is nowhere near the actual amount of people who harm themselves, because many people will administer first-aid at home and never seek help.
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