TY - JOUR PY - 2024// TI - Assessment and management of self-harm and suicide risk in young people JO - BMJ A1 - Mughal, Faraz A1 - Ougrin, Dennis A1 - Stephens, Lucy A1 - Vijayakumar, Lakshmi A1 - Kapur, Nav SP - e073515 EP - e073515 VL - 386 IS - N2 - A 16 year old girl visits her general practitioner (GP) with her mother and describes how she is being bullied at school and how she has felt more anxious as a result. The GP notices a cut on her left wrist. A 23 year old man is brought into the emergency department by paramedics after taking an overdose of paracetamol at home a few hours earlier. In both cases, the doctor wants to know how to adequately assess the self-harm episode and how best to help the young person. Self-harm and suicide in young people are growing and serious public health concerns. Young people can present with self-harm or suicidal thoughts in all clinical contexts. However, the frontline settings of general practice and emergency care allow for early identification and intervention. Managing self-harm or suicidal thoughts in young people is a daily reality for many GPs and non-mental health clinicians. In this practice pointer, we outline how GPs and non-mental health clinicians can assess and manage young people aged 12-25 after self-harm or suicidal thoughts. Our approach is informed by the 2022 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for managing self-harm.1 How common is self-harm and suicide in young people? The NICE definition of self-harm is intentional self-poisoning or injury irrespective of the apparent purpose.1 This definition encompasses self-harm with or without suicidal intent and examples of self-harm include cutting, medication overdose, burning, or hair pulling.2 Self-harm is common among young people, with a pooled 17% lifetime prevalence of self-harm in adolescents aged 12-18.3 Self-cutting is the most common (45%) type of self-harm, followed by head …

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0959-535X UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-073515 ID - ref1 ER -