Types of mental health conditions - SUICIDE & SELF-HARM

Suicide


Suicide is a major problem, not just in the UK, but globally. There were 5656 suicides registered in England in 2023. This is 372 more than in 2022. In Wales, 386 suicides were registered in 2023, in Scotland 792 probable suicides were registered in 2023, and 221 suicides in Northern Ireland. Each year, people of all ages and backgrounds die as a result of suicide, and it is the main cause of death in young people under the age of 35 in the UK.


The impact of suicide is significant; the effect it has on family, friends and the community is catastrophic; the impact of a person’s death by suicide can last generations, and affects everyone they were connected to.


→ Most people who experience thoughts or suicide don’t want to die; they just don’t want to live any longer with the pain and trauma they are experiencing.


Suicide is preventable, and although the subject of suicide is difficult to talk about; openly talking about it can save lives. Note: talking to someone about suicide does not put the thought of it into their heads, but does offer them an opportunity to reach out and get the help and support they need to carry them through their crisis.


Self-harm


Self-harm in itself is not a mental illness - it is behavioural - but it is often a symptom of other underlying serious mental health issues. 


Forms of Self-harm


  • Cutting the flesh with sharp objects.
  • Scratching, bruising, or pinching the skin.
  • Burning the skin with a cigarette, lighter etc.
  • Breaking objects with the hands to cause pain and bleeding.
  • Repeatedly scratching open wounds.
  • Scratching words or letters on the body with a sharp object.
  • Drinking an unusually high amount of alcohol.
  • Easting excessively, or nothing at all.
  • Taking high doses of medication.


Whilst self-harm does not always lead to thoughts of suicide, self-harming generally has a basis in significant emotional pain and trauma, and therefore needs immediate support. People self-harm to cope with distress, to relieve overwhelming emotions, to control a sense of helplessness, and to feel something when they feel numb.


Why people self-harm?


  • To escape emotional pain - a person may justify self-harm as a way of taking their attention away from emotional pain; physical pain may be easier to tolerate than emotional pain.
  • Self-loathing - Self loathing can be a result of bullying, judgements by others, failure in something, not living up to other's expectations, a lack of self worth.
  • To release frustration - A person can self-harm because they are frustrated and unable to communicate or express their feelings in other ways.
  • A sense of relief - some people feel a sense of relief when they see their own blood from self-harming.
  • A distraction from past trauma - PTSD can cause a person to self-harm when they are unable to escape the memories of a past traumatic event. The pain of self-harming takes them away from the pain of their memories.
  • To deal with past abuse - self-harming is common among people who have experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse.
  • To deal with emotional numbness or dissociation - after a traumatic event, some people lose their ability to feel anything, so self-harming is a way for them to feel pain again.
  • To show desperation - some people self-harm to try to show other people how desperate they are; especially so for young adults after the end of a relationship.
  • To seek attention - As a way of getting attention from other people.
  • To experience euphoria - for some people, self-harming is a way of experience a rush of euphoria, which then compels them to do it again.


Self-harming is usually non-suicidal - if a person self-harming intended to end their life, they would have most likely attempted it already. People often use self-harm as a way of managing their suicidal feelings, however, there is a possibility that non-suicidal self-harm could escalate to a suicide attempt, as self-harm advances in its severity.


→ Many people hide their self-harm, scars and injuries, so it can often go unnoticed for months or years. As with suicide, talking to someone about their self-harming does not put the thoughts into their heads, but it does offer them an opportunity to reach out and explore the reasons why they self-harm.