Data belie true rates of self-harm in Northern Ireland
Journal of Affective Disorders 20/04/14 -
One in ten secondary school-age children in Northern Ireland admit to self-harming but researchers say the prevalence is likely to be much higher. An anonymous observational study was conducted of 3596 school pupils (1711 female, 1882 male) attending 28 secondary schools in Northern Ireland in 2009. Ten per cent reported ever having self-harmed, with higher numbers of girls (15.5 per cent) than boys (5.1 per cent). Six per cent reported self-harm in the past year, and again rates were over three times higher among girls than boys. The top four reasons were wanting to get relief from a terrible state of mind, wanting to die, wanting to punish themself, and wanting to show how desperate they were feeling. More than half said they had seriously wanted to kill themselves. The researchers says the comparatively low prevalence is surprisingly lower than in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, especially as hospital treatment rates in Northern Ireland are higher and the suicide rate in Northern Ireland has increased significantly in recent years. They say the most likely explanation is that, as a consequence of the Northern Ireland conflict, people in Northern Ireland are generally more reluctant to disclose sensitive personal information.
One in ten secondary school-age children in Northern Ireland admit to self-harming but researchers say the prevalence is likely to be much higher. An anonymous observational study was conducted of 3596 school pupils (1711 female, 1882 male) attending 28 secondary schools in Northern Ireland in 2009. Ten per cent reported ever having self-harmed, with higher numbers of girls (15.5 per cent) than boys (5.1 per cent). Six per cent reported self-harm in the past year, and again rates were over three times higher among girls than boys. The top four reasons were wanting to get relief from a terrible state of mind, wanting to die, wanting to punish themself, and wanting to show how desperate they were feeling. More than half said they had seriously wanted to kill themselves. The researchers says the comparatively low prevalence is surprisingly lower than in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, especially as hospital treatment rates in Northern Ireland are higher and the suicide rate in Northern Ireland has increased significantly in recent years. They say the most likely explanation is that, as a consequence of the Northern Ireland conflict, people in Northern Ireland are generally more reluctant to disclose sensitive personal information.