A long-term study has shown that self harming among teenager is on rise. One in twelve people self-harm in their teenage years and the statistics are even worse for teenage girls as they are at higher risk of ongoing as young adults.
A team of psychiatrists from King’s College London participated in the long-term study that looked at two thousand adolescents in Australia by repetitively surveying them over a period of fifteen years. All the study participants, at the start of the study were the average age of fifteen. Researchers found that alcohol use, anxiety, depression, cigarette smoking and cannabis use were all associated with self-harm.
The research found that self-cutting and burning were the frequent forms of self-harming during teenage years. About ninety percent of adolescents who self-harmed stopped prior to reaching adulthood. In contrast, people who started self-harm in their twenties were prone to have suffered a troubled teenage with mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.
However, the age-group between fifteen and twenty-four seemed to be more prone to such behaviors. Of the study group, ten percent of girls and six percent of boys reported self-harm. People who encountered stress and anxiety during adolescence were ostensibly six times more prone to self-harm as young adults.
According to lead author Dr Paul Moran, from King’s College, the findings suggest that most adolescent self-harming behavior resolves spontaneously. However, young people who self-harm often have mental health problems that might not resolve without treatment, as obvious in the strong relation detected between adolescent anxiety and depression and an increased risk of self harm in young adulthood.
The research reveals the disturbing numbers of people who self-harm. But the statistics showing that ninety percent have stopped by the time they reach their twenties should not seduce us into thinking that self-harm is just a phase that young people will grow out of, stated Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of mental health charity Sane. The study reported in The Lancet journal.
In cases of self-harm it is crucial to find out what is driving the child to take such radical action. Something is obviously making them tremendously unhappy or frightened and until this is resolved it is likely they will continue to injure themselves or, in extreme cases, be driven to suicide, explained Sue Minto, Head of ChildLine.