Three young people a day are treated for self-harm
MORE than three young people a day are attending emergency departments in Northern Ireland after self-harming, new figures have revealed.
Last year, over 1,000 under-18s presented at A&E across Northern Ireland’s five health trusts for self-harm — a 21% increase in the past three years.
The figures, obtained from the Public Health Agency by the NSPCC, show an alarming rise year on year. In 2013-14 the number was 866, which rose to 994 the following year. In 2015-16 the figure was 1,050.
In light of this rise, the NSPCC is urging people to donate generously to its ‘Call for Help’ Christmas campaign, which is raising money for Childline. Currently, the free and confidential phone and online service can only deal with three in every four of those that reach out for help.
The new figures are backed up by Childline which last year delivered 18,471 counselling sessions across the UK about selfharm last year — the equivalent of 50 a day.
One 14-year-old girl who contacted the service, said: “Recently I’ve lost some people that were really close to me. When I started to self-harm it seemed to mask the emotional pain I was feeling, even if it only helped for a little while. When I get the urge to cut, I can’t seem to stop it until it’s done; otherwise I get really upset and angry.
“A couple of times I’ve gone too far and ended up in hospital.”
Self-harm can take many different forms, including cutting, burning, bruising, scratching, poisoning and overdosing.
Neil Anderson, head of the NSPCC in Northern Ireland, said: “It is clear from these figures that children and young people who are vulnerable to self-harm in Northern Ireland are not always getting the help they need quickly. We are seeing too many young people reaching the point of crisis before they receive any intervention and we should not be at the point of getting to emergency departments before they get that help.”