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9.12 - Self-Harm and Suicidality

from 9 - Integrated Neurobiology of Specific Syndromes and Treatments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

By
Paul O. Wilkinson  and
Anne-Laura van Harmelen
Edited by
Mary-Ellen Lynall ,
Peter B. Jones  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Mary-Ellen Lynall
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Peter B. Jones
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Stephen M. Stahl
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

Self-harm is common; with a prevalence in adolescents of 17–26% it is an issue of enormous public health importance. In absolute terms, few people with suicidal thoughts go on to attempt suicide, but self-harm is strongly associated with completed suicide [1]. It is important to understand the differences between those with suicidal thoughts only and those who go on to complete suicidal actions – this will help us to identify higher-risk individuals and to design effective interventions to reduce suicide attempts. Some clinical (e.g. cannabis use) and environmental (e.g. exposure to self-harm in others) variables have been shown to be associated with transition from suicidal thoughts to attempts [2] but predictive power is low. It is possible that biological markers will have stronger predictive power so it is important to understand the biological basis of self-harm so we can know which putative prognostic markers to test. Understanding the biology of suicidal thoughts will help us to design treatments that reduce these.

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Chapter
Information
Cambridge Textbook of Neuroscience for Psychiatrists , pp. 484 - 489
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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