More than 7,000 children in Scotland have been admitted to hospital over the last decade for deliberately harming themselves, new figures claim.

A further 160,000 people aged over 16 in such cases were also admitted between 1998 and 2009.

Self-harm ranges from scratching and cutting the skin to poisoning, typically begins around 14, and peaks between 16 and 25. Around 150,000 people attend casualty departments each year in the UK because of self-harming, making it one of the top five causes of acute medical admission.

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To read more, see the full article. (The Herald. 24 January 2010)