Aggarwal et al., (2025)

In this descriptive study, we explored the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and service utilisation related to self-harm in a national sample of young people (10- to 19-year-olds) who died by suicide.

Between 2014 and 2016, we found of the 544 young people who died by suicide in the UK, 267 (49%) had a history of self-harm; 139 (26%) had harmed themselves recently (in the 3 months preceding their death). Girls were twice as likely as boys to have recent self-harm (40% v. 20%). Young people with recent self-harm had a clustering of other risk factors. They were more likely to have experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse, to have a diagnosed mental health condition and to have experienced recent life adversity than young people with no known history of self-harm who died by suicide. Most (88%) young people with recent self-harm who died by suicide had presented to services for help, i.e., mental health services, emergency departments or their GP.

Our findings suggest that recent self-harm is common in young people who subsequently die by suicide. Presentation to services in young people who self-harm is an important opportunity to intervene through comprehensive and individualised psychosocial assessment and a range of interventions to address the different kinds of comorbidities and life problems we found.

Read the full paper:

• Self-harm in children and young people who die by suicide: UK-wide consecutive case series (The British Journal of Psychiatry) 

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