Self-harm hospital admissions up 22% for children aged eight to 17

Self-harm hospital admissions for children aged eight to 17 in the UK jumped 22% in one year.

The age group is now the largest for self-harm admissions, with all others seeing a drop, according to NHS data.

Charities say early access to support is vital, but high thresholds and long waiting lists mean more young people are ending up in hospital.

Emily Nuttal, 29, first struggled with self-harm when she was 12. At 13, she was first admitted to A&E.

At that time, she was struggling with changes at school, bullying and troubles at home.

Over the years, she said she had had varied experiences in accident and emergency departments.

"It's been times where it's been really empathetic and passionate people, understanding, supportive. And there's been times where there's been that stigma and judgement."

She said being labelled as "attention-seeking" was really difficult and made it harder to reach out for help again.

"I would then only go if I was forced upon by the crisis service, or if somebody else noticed, and they got people involved," she said.

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Source: BBC News, 23 March 2023