Mental Health: Self-harm lessons needed in schools

Dr Marcia Brophy, project manager of the inquiry, said: "Young people said they were afraid of getting a negative or judgmental reaction from teachers and wanted people to recognise that self-harming behaviour was a coping mechanism for other problems." The inquiry had hoped to gather evidence from Connexions for the interim report, which looks at self-harm in educational settings, but this had to be put on hold. "There was a lack of time in this phase but we will be bringing out a full report in the autumn and we hope to have spoken to Connexions by then," added Brophy.

The next interim report is due out in April and will look at self-harm in residential settings, including the armed forces, prisons and sheltered accommodation. The work is funded by the Camelot Foundation.