Two thirds of self-harm cases seen in hospital emergency departments last year involved an overdose, according to new data.
The statistics were published ahead of World Mental Health Day, which takes place today, and to coincide with a major conference on suicide being held in Westport in Co Mayo.
As reported in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, there was a 6% fall last year in the number of cases of self-harm presenting to emergency departments (EDs).
The figures, compiled for the National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm, shows there were 11,061 recorded presentations to hospital due to self-harm nationally, with the rate of individuals presenting to hospital following deliberate self-harm at 199 per 100,000 of population.
Some 61% of patients were assessed by a member of the mental health team in the hospital, with almost 70% of patients discharged from the ED provided with a referral for treatment elsewhere.
Alcohol was a factor in 37% of cases, with a higher rate among men, with the hours around midnight the most likely to feature presentations in EDs. Some 67% of episodes last year involved a drug overdose.
The registry identified that 82% of patients who had a history of five or more previous acts of self-harm engaged in repeated acts of self-harm in the three months following their last act of self-harm.
Source: Noel Baker, Irish Examiner, 10/10/14
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