Adolescent self-harm: think before prescribing

SUMMARY The assessment of self-harm in adolescence should include identifying medical complications and any underlying psychiatric conditions Changes in the frequency, type, and severity of self-harm can signify increasing suicidality and progression towards lethal action. As 30% of adolescent self-harm involves an overdose of prescription drugs, prescribing limited quantities and having the parents hold the supply can decrease this risk Individual psychological therapies are first line. They can be combined with school and parental involvement There is very little evidence supporting the use of psychotropic drugs for treating adolescent self-harm

[1]  O. Kirtley,et al.  Pain and self-harm: A systematic review. , 2016, Journal of affective disorders.

[2]  M. Large,et al.  Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guideline for the management of deliberate self-harm , 2016, The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry.

[3]  Katharine A Smith,et al.  Interventions to prevent self-harm: what does the evidence say? , 2016, Evidence-Based Mental Health.

[4]  B. Sivertsen,et al.  Sleep problems and self-harm in adolescence , 2015, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[5]  Andrew Page,et al.  Prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury in nonclinical samples: systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression. , 2014, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[6]  G. Williamson,et al.  Risk Assessment in Mental Health: Introducing a Traffic Light System in a Community Mental Health Team , 2013, The open nursing journal.

[7]  Fulton Crews,et al.  Adolescent cortical development: A critical period of vulnerability for addiction , 2007, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[8]  K. Hawton,et al.  Deliberate self-harm in children and adolescents: a research update , 2005, Current opinion in psychiatry.

[9]  D. Leo,et al.  Who are the kids who self-harm ? An Australian self-report school survey , 2004 .

[10]  J. Bancroft,et al.  Self-poisoning and self-injury in the Oxford area. Epidemiological aspects 1969-73. , 1975, British journal of preventive & social medicine.

[11]  Jami F. Young,et al.  Parent relationship quality buffers against the effect of peer stressors on depressive symptoms from middle childhood to adolescence. , 2014, Developmental psychology.

[12]  Substance abuse and suicide risk among adolescents. , 2012, European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience.