More and more teenage girls are suffering from self-harm. A study in a medical journal says more 13-16-year-old girls are self-harming. Researchers looked at data on nearly 17,000 patients. The researchers found there was a 68 per cent increase in self-harm among these girls over a three-year period. During the same period, rates for other teenage girls stayed constant. Self-harm rates for girls are three times higher than those for boys.
A professor of psychiatry said stress and psychological problems probably caused this rise. He said: "It's important to understand its underlying causes." A children's charity said self-harm can often be a sign of a bigger problem. It said services to help teenage girls at risk were vital. Without these, it can be a matter of life or death. Self-harm is one of the biggest signs of teenage suicide. Suicide is the second most common cause of death in under-25s.