Summary
Sally Marlow talks to some of the men and women who have self-harmed, and the experts who treat them, to find out what is driving so many people to self-harm.
Clinical guidelines define self-harm as any act of self-poisoning or self-injury carried out by a person irrespective of their motivation. However, research reveals a worrying association between self-harm and the risk of suicide.
While rates of self-harm are particularly high among teenage girls, the true picture is far more nuanced. Rates have gone up in all age groups and both genders and, more recently, in groups such as middle-aged men.
So what is driving so many people to hurt themselves, and what can be done to help them? The media is quick to point the finger at social media, but Sally discovers that the reasons behind this question are as varied and complex as the people who do it.
Producer: Beth Eastwood
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:35.0 | BBC Sounds, |
| 0:36.0 | BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:39.0 | Hi everybody, I'm Caitlin Jenner, |
| 0:41.0 | and I am a guest on Simon Mondays Don't Tell Me the Score Podcast. |
| 0:46.3 | We talked about everything. |
| 0:47.4 | The Olympics, trans issues and all the lessons that I have learned along the way. |
| 0:53.0 | I really enjoyed recording the podcast, |
| 0:55.0 | and I hope you enjoy listening to it. |
| 0:58.0 | You can hear it on BBC Sounds. |
| 1:00.0 | Just search for, don't tell me the score. |
| 1:04.0 | Hi, I'm Riana Dylan and you're listening to another seriously great podcast from BBC Radio 4. My first actual incident of self-harm was when I was 13. I'd been getting |
| 1:19.6 | in trouble a lot at school, getting into fights, and I just felt overwhelmed all the time. I had exams |
| 1:26.0 | going on. How long had you felt overwhelmed? When did that feeling start? |
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