450 people hospitalised 10 times in 7 years by self-harm

MORE than 450 people have each been admitted to hospital at least 10 times due to deliberate self-harm in a seven-year period, a conference on mental health heard yesterday.

The 453 people who deliberately self-harmed resulted in 8,080 presentations to hospital between 2003 and 2009 — almost 11% of all such admissions.

The National Mental Health Conference, held in Dublin yesterday, also heard that the self-harm rate among men and women in the 20-24 year age group increased 20% last year, despite estimates that 10% of people in that age group have left the country in each of the past two years.