self-injury

Last reviewed 01/2018

Five to fifteen percent of cases of deliberate self-harm involve self injury.

Often this takes the form of superficial lacerations of the upper limb.

In the rarer cases where more violence is employed, the person may, for example, throw themselves from a height, jump in front of a train or shoot themselves. These highly dangerous means of self-harm indicate a high degree of suicidal intent.

The characteristics of a typical self-injury patient are:

• young
• low self-esteem
• impulsive and aggressive
• emotionally labile
• poor interpersonal skills
• history of alcohol or drug abuse

The patient often describes a period of increasing tension which is released by the laceration.