Insight into the treatment of self-harm revealed

It includes survey results with 179 users of the service, as well as excerpts of in-depth interviews with health professionals and young people – many of which are critical of NHS treatment of self-inflicted injuries.

A quote from a General Physician from a London A&E department included in the report reads: "If you go to A&E on a Friday night it is full of people who are sick. We are busy all the time, and maybe there is someone who self-harms who has come to A&E or called 999 but then they don't give us their history so you kind of just want to shake them and not waste our time because you have lots of people who are very sick."

The report also includes user figures of the service and found that the article 'What happens at A&E?' was the third most used following 'What is self-harm?' and 'Why do people self-harm?' indicating that this is also an issue of concern to young people.

One of the young people interviewed for the report recounts her experience of treatment.

Alisia*(25) said: "When I have been to hospital to get my wounds dressed I had horrible treatments from nurses. When I was in rehab I got horrible treatment because I was a self-harmer and the first rehab I was in they made me sign a contract to say if I self-harm I would get thrown out of the establishment.

"On the second rehab, because I was self-harming, they held a consultation group where people confront each other with their fears and anxieties. They sat everybody in a circle and the whole focus of the group was my self-harming and everybody was shouting at me, screamed at me, called me names, said that I was attention seeking. It did not help me at all it made me feel worse, made me want to self-harm more. It did not help at all."

42nd Street is a youth mental health charity working with a number of young people affected by self-harm in the Manchester area. Its team also provides support to young people through TheSite.org by answering self-harm related questions in the community section and on its 'askTheSite' service.

Ian Trafford, Head of Operations and Business Development at 42nd Street said: "Self-harm is a hugely complex issue and is often linked to numerous emotional and mental health problems – when looking at the injury in isolation, it is easy to see why some people find it difficult to understand.

"However, it is disappointing that we're still hearing about examples of inadequate care for some young people following instances of self harm. This is in spite of the fact that there are now NICE guidelines.

"In some areas, Manchester for example, the presence of mental health A&E liaison and crisis resolution teams has meant that young people are getting the treatment they need – a sign that with the right resources, training and understanding, things can be better for young people who self-harm."
Other key findings from the report include:

• Of the 179 people surveyed, 20% were under the age of 16 despite the service being for the 16 plus age group
• 17% of all respondents described themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual – over three times the national average (5%)
• Between the launch in January 2009 and the end of May 2009, between 8,000 to 12,000 unique users visited TheSite.org/selfharm each month
• During the same period of time, 128 self-harm related questions were asked through the professional advice service, 'askTheSite'
• More than 8 in 10 (83%) survey respondents found the self-harm section useful, and 8 in 10 (80%) said they would recommend the section to someone who needed advice or help about self-harm.

The consortium is holding a free breakfast seminar for professionals interested in learning how to support young people affected by self-harm in London on December 1st 2009, anyone interested in attending should email vicky.chant@youthnet.org.

Patrick Daniels, Advice and Volunteer Manager for YouthNet, said: "What's come through loud and clear from this report, and through our work with young people, is that providing the right kind of emotional and practical support to young people who self-harm at an early point can be life changing for them.

"Early intervention is proven to reduce the long-term impact of mental health and emotional issues for many, and the anonymity and accessibility of online services mean that the internet service is perfectly placed to provide this support."

The online resource, hosted at www.TheSite.org/selfharm, funded by the Camelot Foundation and supported by the National Children's Bureau, was launched in January 2009 in response to the need for a 'much better' web-based information on self-harm identified by the National Inquiry, 'Truth Hurts'.
This evaluation also follows the launch of research commissioned by YouthNet called Life Support: Young people's needs in a digital age, which found that four in five (82%) young people use the internet to look for advice and information.

Ends/

Media Enquiries:

For further media information on YouthNet or for a copy of the report, please contact Sarah Wilson or Gabriella Jozwiak at YouthNet on 020 7250 5716 or out-of-hours on 07766 660 755.  Email media@youthnet.org

For further information on 42nd Street please contact Vera Martin on 0161 8320169 or email theteam@fortysecondstreet.org.uk

For further information on Depaul UK please contact Rachel Slade on 0207 939 1280 or rachel.slade@depauluk.org