Shocking self-harm statistics

Londonderry had the highest rates of self-harm amongst men and woman in 2007/8 but according to a newly published 2009 report from the Northern Ireland Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm it has since been overtaken by Limerick.

Notwithstanding this moderate improvement, self-harm - considered a key predictor of suicide by health experts - is still registering at obscene levels in the North West.

Shockingly, the rate of self-harm in Londonderry may have fallen below the rate for Limerick but it remains higher than four other cities tested in the Republic of Ireland.

The rate in Londonderry was 38 per cent higher than the average rate in the Western area as a whole - higher than the findings

from 2007/8 (29 per cent).

The female rate was 9.2 per cent lower than the female rate in Limerick but 28-88 per cent higher than the other four cities in ROI.

The report also shows that Londonderry had far higher rates of self-harm than other parts of the Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) area.

Self-harm rates for males in Londonderry were more than double that for males in Limavady and Omagh and almost double

that for males within Fermanagh and Strabane. This was similar to the findings from the previous two years.

The self-harm rate for females in Londonderry was double that of females in Omagh and almost double that of females in Limavady. This was higher than 2007/8.

The dismal catalogue shows - similar to 2007/8 - overdose was the most commonly used method of self-harm in the Western area in 2009, used in 73.9 per cent of episodes.

Self-cutting was the second most commonly used method involved in 17.2 per cent of all episodes.

Attempted drowning accounted for 6.4 per cent of all self-harm attendances in the Western area. This was slightly higher than 2007/8 (4.8 per cent).

There were more male attendances due to attempted drowning than female attendances with 67.9 per cent of all attempted drowning being among males.

The majority (84.0 per cent) of all attempted drownings occurred among residents within the Londonderry area.

This was higher than the findings from 2007/8 (79.7 per cent).

Attempted drowning accounted for 10.8 per cent of all methods within the Londonderry area compared to 1.1-3.2 per cent of episodes in the other council areas.

Attempted hanging accounted for 3.1 per cent of all self-harm attendances in the Western area. There were more male attendances due to attempted hanging than female attendances with 66.6 per cent of all attempted hanging being among males. This was similar to previous findings.

Alcohol, whilst rare as a main method, was involved in 56.3 per cent of all episodes. This was a decrease of 17.8 per cent compared to 2008.

Similar to 2007-08, Londonderry had the highest overall percentage of episodes of self-harm involving alcohol (61.2 per cent), followed closely by Fermanagh (55.8 per cent), Omagh (52.9 per cent), Limavady (49.5 per cent) and Strabane (41.6 per cent).

A breakdown of deliberate self-harm in the Western area in 2009 by gender and age shows at 1,037 per 100,000, the peak rate for females was among 15-19 year-olds.

This was highest in Londonderry (1,341 per 100,000) and lowest in Limavady (612 per 100,000). The number of female self-harm episodes in this age group for Londonderry in 2009 was 57 which was an increase of 10 episodes compared to the previous year.

The peak rate for males was 819 per 100,000 among 20-24 year-olds. This was highest in Londonderry (1,143 per 100,000) and lowest in Omagh (454 per 100,000). The number of male self-harm episodes in this age group for Londonderry was 47 which was an increase of 8 compared to the previous year.

Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey, welcomed the publication of the registry report for 2009 but warned the current economic climate would likely place additional pressures on local communities.

He said: “Given that deliberate self-harm is widely accepted as the single best predictor of future suicide, the information provided by the registry provides us with a unique insight into the patterns and actions of vulnerable people who are in emotional crisis.

“It also provides the Health and Social Care system with the information they require to allow services to be planned in response to those in greatest need.”