Published yesterday in the Lancet, the Multicentre Study of Self-harm in England is a large (30,950 patients) cohort study of people presenting to hospital emergency departments in Oxford, Manchester and Derby, with self-poisoning or self-injury during 2000-2007. We know that people who self-harm have an increased risk of dying early, but this study tries to [read the full story…]
Suicide is the second most common cause of death in young people worldwide (after accidental death). A wide range of factors contribute to self-harm and suicide, including mental health, poverty, living in a rural setting and being single. There is scant evidence for the treatment of self-harm or suicide with talking treatments or drugs and [read the full story…]
NICE guidance recommends that all people who self-harm and are admitted to hospital are given mental health and risk assessment: Everyone who has self-harmed should have a comprehensive assessment of needs and risk; engaging the service user is a prerequisite. – Taken from NICE Self-harm guidance (CG16), Nov 2004 This new prospective cohort study conducted [read the full story…]
There is a clear need for specialist assessment and care for older people who self-harm, according to two papers published in the May issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers from the University of Manchester studied 1,177 people over the age of 60 who were admitted to six general hospitals in Oxford, Manchester and Derby [read the full story…]
This new guideline published today suggests that psychological interventions should be offered to people who self-harm to help them overcome their behavioural problems. Specifically it recommends that healthcare professionals should offer 3-12 sessions of a psychological intervention that is specifically structured for people who self-harm. The intervention should aim to reduce self-harm and should be [read the full story…]
Researchers from Australia have published the first population based study to chart the incidence of self harm during the transition from late adolescence through to adulthood. They recruited a stratified random sample of 1,943 teenagers from 44 schools across Victoria over a 16 year period (1992-2008). Participants were given questionnaires and telephone interviews and followed [read the full story…]
Researchers from Oxford University’s Centre for Suicide Research have conducted a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies that explore health service staff attitudes to people who self-harm. It’s obvious to say that staff attitudes are going to have a big impact on the care of patients, but this research sought to review the nature [read the full story…]
Researchers from Manchester University have conducted one of the largest randomised controlled trials ever undertaken to investigate self-harm in adolescents. The trial published in the BMJ examined the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of group therapy for self harm in young people by randomising 366 patients to: Manual based developmental group therapy programme specifically designed for adolescents [read the full story…]
