Self-harm
Mental health
To ensure young people who experience self-harm thoughts and behaviours (SHTB) get the help they need, it is crucial that researchers identify both ‘who’ is at risk, and also ‘when’ these thoughts and behaviours are most likely to happen. Although lots of risk factors for SHTB have been identified, we know little about how they change from day-to-day.
Dr Becky Mars from the University of Bristol will use a method called ‘Ecological Momentary Assessment’, which is like a digital diary, to look at how patterns of SHTB in young people change over short periods of time (hours/days/weeks). She will also identify factors that predict changes in these patterns, which could be psychological - like feeling trapped or feeling disconnected from other people, or physiological - like sleep problems or changes in heart rate.
Although self-harm is very common in young people, most do not seek help, making it difficult to provide support. Dr Mars will find out whether young people who self-harm are either (a) not visiting a GP or (b) visiting a GP for other reasons and not telling them about their self-harm. She will also look for factors that could help GPs to better identify young people who have self-harmed, using both traditional statistical methods and machine learning techniques.
Make a donation
Medical research has never been more important. We need your help to continue funding life-changing medical research by some of the UK's leading scientists.
Support usMental health - eating disorders and self-harm
-
Why is there a need to fund new research?
In 2017 we identified eating disorders and self-harm as an area of mental health where we could make a real difference. These are devastating conditions which blight the lives of increasing numbers of young people and their families.
Around 1.2 million people in the UK have an eating disorder. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, and other eating disorders such as bulimia can lead to severe medical complications.
The UK’s rates of self-harm are among the highest in Europe and have increased steadily over the past decade. Repeated self-harm results in around 150,000 attendances at accident and emergency departments each year and is one of the top five causes of acute medical admission.
Despite the devastating impact of these life-threatening disorders, our understanding of what drives them to develop is still limited.
Help change lives
We fund and support the most promising health research wherever we discover great opportunities that are not being pursued. We use our donations responsibly and ensure we make the greatest impact where it is most needed.
Support the power of science