Dr David Coleman: How to spot the signs of self-harm in your teen — and the best ways to help
With incidences of self-harm on the rise in younger teenagers, it’s vital that you know how to talk openly to your teens without scaring them into secrecy
'Keeping the lines of communication open is more important than "fixing" her problems'. Getty
Self-harm is an increasingly big problem, especially for younger teenagers. A report in The Lancet last year showed that incidence rates for self-harm in girls in the UK in the 13-16-year-old age group rose over the pandemic to about 38pc. That suggests that nearly two in every five girls aged 13-16 have self-harmed. Girls are about four times more likely to self-harm than boys.
A reader recently asked me what she could do to help her daughter, who she worries is self-harming, without scaring her into being more secretive...
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